Tim Russert Dies
 

I just heard a report that Tim Russert died of a heart attack. Absolutely insane, and incredibly sad.

ETA: here's the link http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25145431/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

When I saw your thread, I thought it was a joke. :(

I just heard that too. :( This election won't be the same without him.

RIP and God bless.

Was just coming to say this. I had just left NBC studios before he collapsed. Crazy.

NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58

He was the Washington bureau chief and moderator of ‘Meet the Press’

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25145431/

I just saw Tom Brockle (sp?) on TV-such a shocking lost of a young newsman.
RIP-Sunday Mornings will not be the same.

I may have an odd sense of humor, but I wouldn't joke about someone dying. I have to say, though, that I thought it was a misprint when I read it.

His son just graduated from Boston College this year; I can't imagine losing a father, especially at that age.

Damn. I love Meet the Press. I will miss him a lot.

Shocking...and so sad.

Sympathies to all....

Wow...just wow.

I know you wouldn't. I'll admit I should have chosen better words...misprint definitely describes it better.

To echo Honeykiss, yes, the Elections just won't be the same.

The thought just crossed my mind that Heaven got a little better for my mom today. She watched Meet the Press religiously too and really liked his style. She can talk to him first hand now.

I am absolutely stunned. Did he have a history of heart trouble??

I'm so stunned. I wake up early on Sunday morning just to watch Meet the Press. If I couldn't watch due to church, I would tape it. Tim Russert was always neutral and I'm really going to miss his commentary. :(

Just saw it during the Open... RIP

Definitely - whether you agreed or not with his interview style, his "Meet the Press" segments with the candidates during primary season were a must-watch. He was one of the reasons I went to journalism school (back when I wanted to be a journalist).

Meet the Press just won't be the same...what a loss!

Wow! I just saw this on Twitter. So sad for the family.

His wife is a Kappa, and received an Alumnae Achievement Award at Convention two years ago. I met her briefly at the reception honoring the award winners and she was lovely.

I loved "Meet the Press" because of him! I'm really shocked. Condolences to his family.

Oh my goodness. How absolutely horrible :(


RIP, Tim. Sunday morning just won't be the same without you.

He was a classy dude and a top-notch journalist. One of my coworkers was in the studio when it happened apparently - he sent out a group email telling us what happened and there was a collective gasp across the newsroom.

NBC news is a complete and total tribute to Tim. Beautiful and poignant tributes from George Bush, Ethel Kennedy, Brian Williams, Andrea Mitchell.. on and on and on... I don't know how they are all holding it together, because I am barely keeping it together watching this. 10 pm EDT, a special hour long tribute...

I never watched MtP, but he always struck me as a genuine and honest reporter in a time where too many are content to sell out and be hacks. Keith Olbermann looks like he's barely holding back tears, and I don't blame him. American journalism is probably the worse off now for having lost someone of his integrity and high standards. Rest in peace, and my heart goes out to his family.

I loved MTP, and I don't see anyone in that organization that can fill the giant void of professionalism that exists from his absence.

Awful loss for his family, his son just graduated and on Father's Day weekend...just a harsh reminder for us all.

I am so very sad about this. I cannot think of a single newsperson who I had a greater respect for, or of whom I more enjoyed the opinion and professional capacity. He was a giant among his fellows, and truly there is no such thing as a replacement for him.

I don't generally get emotionally invested in 'celebrity' deaths, but I felt like Tim was something beyond a usual TV personality. I am truly going to miss him in the upcoming months particularly, and find it hugely tragic that he will miss out on the rest of the election cycle that he would have enjoyed so very much. He was the first person I turned to for accurate political news. So sad.

Wow, just wow!!! He had a journalistic integrity unlike any other from his "generation". When I last saw him in a brief MSNBC spot ~month ago, I knew something was not right with him, that he looked rather ill.

Well, this is sad... :( Not much you can do when there's heart failure and plaque rupture... I wonder why they did not just stent him, given his age and enlargement? Meds & exercise don't do this alone when this is the case... He probably didn't want to take the time off. IDK--just guessing.

This just breaks my heart, Tim was a class act, and as someone mentioned above, for his son to lose his Dad the Friday before Father's Day, oh, that's too much. I was hoping he'd be the moderator for the presidential debates this year because I love his presence in those situations. So I'll think of him during those and every Sunday morning. Best thoughts and wishes for his family, coworkers and friends. (I can't imagine the trauma for his coworkers who were right there with him when he collapsed)

^^^I bet he wanted to wait and do all that "political stuff" before he went in for surgery... That is why, fellas, you really need to HEAR your physicians when they tell you these things.

I just watched Larry King, who dedicated his show this evening to Tim. It was a Whos Who in journalism and the stories were unbelievable -- Ted Koppel, Campbell Brown, Barbara Walters.....

I love watching Tim and fondly remember his white board (Florida, Florida, Florida). They played a clip tonight where Tim told of his son asking for the whiteboard, only to follow with, "it's worth a fortune on eBay".

Meet the Press this Sunday will be devoted to Tim, but the show will never be the same. Tim, may you rest in peace

This is going to seem a little silly, but it meant a lot to me given the circumstances.

I once applied for a job directing at the NBC Washington Bureau which would have included Meet The Press. A mutual friend (former NBC Washington Bureau producer) suggested I get directly in touch with Tim Russert. I never did because of his schedule and travels, and as it turned out, they had an internal candidate from the NBC local owned station who was going to get the job.

In normal circumstances, I probably wouldn't have heard from anyone, or at best received a form letter, but Russert had his assistant call personally to thank me and let me know I would have been a strong candidate had not this other person been available locally.

Big deal, huh? Well, as those of you know who have applied for high level jobs, you often have no response at all. Even though it wasn't Tim himself, it was impressive that he went out of the way to be sure I was contacted.

He was an outstanding journalist and, obviously, an outstanding person as well.

I never watch the political news shows/listen to talk radio but he seemed like a "stand-up" guy. I'm glad that he was able to spend a nice vacation with his family.

When I heard the news late this afternoon, it was the first time that I realized today is "Friday the 13th".

I heard the news right as i was leaving to go into work. . . When i mentioned it when I got in not a single one of my fellow employees working (all round my age) had any idea who he was. This stunned me more than i could imagine.

I had the pleasure of seeing him one night in a restaurant on Nantucket he was with his family and just seemed like a normal down to earth guy no pretense about him.

Not only is it tragic for his son to have lost him on fathers day weekend but Tim's father "Big Russ" who Tim wrote the book out has outlived his son. . . A tragic thing for a parent. . .

I have no idea what im going to do on election night with out his white board. . .

Well, the the Sunday morning news shows tend to be either of great interest or none at all, depending on the person. Even in broadcast circles that time period was sometimes called "The Sunday Morning Ghetto."

I was surprised that another director at our network, who is in his mid-40's, didn't know who he was -- and my friend had even worked for an NBC affilliate for a while.

I was not suprised that ABC and CBS gave a considerable amount of time on their regular newscasts to Russert's death, but I didn't expect Fox and CNN to basically give their entire evenings over to the story (although a lot of that programming is rebroadcasts from earlier).

I suppose it pays tribute to the man and his reputation and professionalism, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a newsman given the coverage that you would expect for a head of state or high ranking politician.

Also, in passing, I thought that the coverage was pretty well done on all fronts.

I think if Walter Cronkite had passed away before retirement, he would have received the same type of attention(and still may). I put Tim Russert in the same category as Walter Cronkite. I think he had an incredible amount of integrity and tried very hard to be unbiased in his interviews. He really became more recognizable as a household name during the 2000 election with his white board.

Cronkite is an excellent example, and I suspect you're right.

There have been other "news stars" who have died and not gotten this kind of coverage, even though they were "main" anchors -- which Russert was not.

Part of this, I suspect, is the the fairly recent tendency for the cable networks to latch on to one big story and (sometimes) cover it to death -- with no pun intended.

Clearly though, the other part is Russert's reputation -- which is deserved.

The tributes from his peers seemed more genuine than the ritual comments often heard, and his "rags to riches" background is certainly the story of the American Dream.

It was fascinating to me that former GE Chairman Jack Welch said on FOX that Russert was the only NBC on air talent who never had an agent. (For those of you who may not know, NBC is owned by GE) He just wanted to be treated fairly and do what he loved to do.

Thankfully, NBC did that -- not always common these days.

It actually was also one of the stories on ESPN SportsCenter, and was featured on espn.com. For a non-sports person to get that kind of coverage is a huge deal.

To me, he was the preeminent interviewer of today, the ONLY interviewer who has been able to come across without bias or favoritism. He treated everyone the same, and conducted interviews the way we are all taught during journalism school. You hear about the correct way to do an interview, the correct way to approach a subject, and you think it's impossible to live up to that standard. Then, you'd watch Tim Russert, and you'd see that, with a lot of work and skill, it could be done.

There can sometimes be a barrier between print journalists and TV journalists; he was one of the few who was able to bridge the barrier, and garner respect on both sides of the aisle.

He supposedly said that when he was chosen as host he was very nervous, and went to the previous host, Lawrence Spivak, for advice.

He was told to learn everything he possibly could about what the guest believed, and then "take the other side."

It will be interesting to see who replaces Russert, and that replacement will undoubtedly be controversial to some, no matter who it is.

Some very early speculation points to NBC White House Correspondent David Gregory -- but who knows.

No matter your political affiliation, we are all alot poorer for losing out on his frank insight for the rest of this election. I was sooo looking forward to his dry erase board breakdown of the electoral votes. Listening to the eulogies from his collegues, competitors, and politicians, he was universally respected. Sunday mornings won't be the same:(

My tenant and I were discussing health issues this afternoon, so I mentioned Tim Russert dying of a heart attack. "I don't know him," he said, "I'm not from around here." The funny thing is, he didn't work most of this week and has just been watching TV - what, I don't know.

Looks like Luke will be following in his dad's footsteps: Source

I'm not real sure how I feel about this. It smacks a little of promotion instead of News value -- but of course I have no idea how they will use him.

Interesting.