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| Tim Russert may be the last left-leaning broadcaster who never let his personal beliefs interfere with his newscasts. In fact, he was once accused of being 'too hard' on Hillary Clinton in her run for President in 2008. |
Father's Day Memories
Remembering Iconoclast Journalist Tim Russert 10 Years Later
Tim Russert > Quotes
Perhaps the last of the Great Broadcast JOURNALISTS who was considerate to both sides of an issue regardless of politics, Tim Russert left us much too young not long after penning a wonderful book about his father 'BIG RUSS and Me' and their relationship. Thanks to GOOD READS, we quote some Russert passages here at the time of another Father's Day
Tim Russert quotes (showing 1-6 of 6)
“The best exercise for the human heart is reaching down to lift someone else up.”
― Tim Russert
― Tim Russert
“The best exercise for your heart, is reaching out and helping somebody.”
― Tim Russert
― Tim Russert
“Baseball. If there's a more beautiful word in the English language. I have yet to hear it....baseball has served as such a powerful link between Dad and me, and later between me and my son.”
― Tim Russert, Big Russ & Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life
― Tim Russert, Big Russ & Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life
“His [Luke]letter went something like this: "Dear Mr President, Thank you for introducing me to the Hall of Famers and for showing me the Oval Office. I think if I work really hard I will have a chance for both."
The next time I saw the president I told him about my son's ambitious plans. His response was beautiful: "Never get between a boy and his dreams”
― Tim Russert
The next time I saw the president I told him about my son's ambitious plans. His response was beautiful: "Never get between a boy and his dreams”
― Tim Russert
“What you are to be, you are now becoming. —RUSSEL LESTER SNYDER, artist”
― Tim Russert, Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons
TIM RUSSERT tribute to his father and their relationship |
courtesy GOOD READS
| Tim Russert | |
|---|---|
Russert in October 2007
| |
| Born | Timothy John Russert May 7, 1950 Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 13, 2008 (aged 58) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Cause of death | Coronary thrombosis |
| Education | B.A. John Carroll University J.D. Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Years active | 1983–2008 |
| Spouse(s) | Maureen Orth (m. 1983–2008) |
| Children | Luke Russert |
| Website | MSNBC Biography |
Timothy John Russert (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Washington bureau chief and also hosted an eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview program. He was a frequent correspondent and guest on NBC's The Today Show and Hardball. Russert covered several presidential elections, and he presented the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on the NBC Nightly News during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Time magazine included Russert in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008.[1] Russert was posthumously revealed as a 30-year source for syndicated columnist Robert Novak.[2]
Political
Prior to becoming host of Meet the Press, Russert ran one of U.S. Senator Daniel Moynihan's five major law offices based in Buffalo, New York. He later served as special counsel and as chief of staff to Moynihan, a Democrat from Hell's Kitchen, New York. In 1983, he became a top aide to New York Governor Mario Cuomo, also a Democrat. Yet, in our view, Russert - much like Walter Cronkite - kept his left leaning personal views to himself.
In 10 years since Russert's passing, the media climate has changed so much, Russert would be an iconoclast today as we believe he would be one of the few media purveyors to CONTINUE to NOT show a political bent in coverage of the news and politics.
CIA leak scandal
In the Plame affair, Scooter Libby, convicted chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that Russert told him of the identity of Central Intelligence Agency officer Valerie Plame (who is married to former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson). Russert testified previously, and again in United States v. I. Lewis Libby, that he would neither testify whether he spoke with Libby nor would he describe the conversation.[17][18] Russert did say, however, that Plame's identity as a CIA operative was not leaked to him. Russert testified again in the trial on February 7, 2007.[19] According to the Washington Post, Russert testified that "when any senior government official calls him, they are presumptively off the record," saying: "when I talk to senior government officials on the phone, it's my own policy our conversations are confidential. If I want to use anything from that conversation, then I will ask permission."[20]
At the trial, the prosecution asserted that a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent had called Russert regarding Russert's phone call with Libby, and that Russert had told the agent that the subject of Plame had not come up during his conversation with Libby.[19]Russert was posthumously revealed as a thirty-year source of columnist Robert Novak, whose original article revealed Plame's affiliation with the CIA. In a Slate.com article, Jack Shafer argued that "the Novak-Russert relationship poses a couple of questions. [...] Russert's long service as an anonymous source to Novak...requires further explanation."[21] In a posthumous commentary, the L.A. Times wrote that, "Like former New York Times reporter Judith Miller, Russert was one of the high-level Washington journalists who came out of the Libby trial looking worse than shabby." The article's author, Tim Rutten, argued that although Russert and NBC had claimed that these conversations were protected by journalistic privilege, "it emerged under examination [that] Russert already had sung like a choirboy to the FBI concerning his conversation with Libby—and had so voluntarily from the first moment the Feds contacted him. All the litigation was for the sake of image and because the journalistic conventions required it."[22][unreliable source?]
Iraq War
In the lead up to the Iraq War, Meet the Press featured interviews with top government officials including Vice President Dick Cheney. CBS Evening News correspondent Anthony Mason praised Russert's interview techniques: "In 2003, as the United States prepared to go to war in Iraq, Russert pressed Vice President Dick Cheney about White House assumptions." However, Salon.com reported a statement from Cheney press aide Cathie Martin regarding advice she says she offered when the Bush administration had to respond to charges that it manipulated pre-Iraq War intelligence: "I suggested we put the vice president on Meet the Press, which was a tactic we often used. It's our best format."[23] David Folkenflik quoted Russert in his May 19, 2004, Baltimore Sun article:
| “ | I don't think the public was, at that time, particularly receptive to hearing it," Russert says. "Back in October of 2002, when there was a debate in Congress about the war in Iraq—three-fourths of both houses of Congress voted with the president to go. Those in favor were so dominant. We don't make up the facts. We cover the facts as they were. | ” |
Folkenflik went on to write:
| “ | Russert's remarks would suggest a form of journalism that does not raise the insolent question from outside polite political discourse—so, if an administration's political foes aren't making an opposing case, it's unlikely to get made. In the words of one of my former editors, journalists can read the polls just like anybody else. | ” |
In the 2007 PBS documentary, Buying the War, Russert commented:
| “ | My concern was, is that there were concerns expressed by other government officials. And to this day, I wish my phone had rung, or I had access to them.[22] | ” |
2008 presidential debate
At the February debate, Russert was criticized for what some perceived as disproportionately tough questioning of Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton.[24] Among the questions, Russert had asked Clinton, but not Obama, to provide the name of the new Russian President (Dmitry Medvedev).[24] This was later parodied on Saturday Night Live. In October 2007, liberal commentators accused Russert of harassing Clinton over the issue of supporting drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants.[25]
Enthusiasm for sports[edit]
Russert grew up as a New York Yankees fan, switching his allegiance to the Nationals when they were established in Washington, D.C. Russert held season tickets to both the Washington Nationals and the Washington Wizards[26] and was elected to the board of directors of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 2003.
Awards
During his career, Russert received 48 honorary doctorates and won several awards for excellence in journalism, including the Paul White Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association (2009),[35] the John Peter Zenger Freedom of the Press Award, the American Legion Journalism Award, the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Journalism Award, the Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism, the David Brinkley Award for Excellence in Communication and the Catholic Academy for Communication's Gabriel Award. Russert also received an Emmy Award in 2005 for his coverage of the funeral of former President Ronald Reagan.[36]
Personal life
Russert met Maureen Orth at the 1980 Democratic National Convention; they married in 1983 at the Basilica de San Miguel in Madrid, Spain. Orth has been a special correspondent for Vanity Fair since 1993.
TIM RUSSERT
tribute to his father and their relationship
tribute to his father and their relationshipPolitical coverage and debates
During NBC's coverage of the 2000 presidential election, Russert calculated possible Electoral College outcomes using a whiteboard (now in the Smithsonian Institution) on the air and memorably summed up the outcome as dependent upon "Florida, Florida, Florida."[11] TV Guide described the scene as "one of the 100 greatest moments in TV history."[12] Russert again accurately predicted the final battleground of the presidential elections of 2004: "Ohio, Ohio, Ohio." On the MSNBC show Tucker, Russert predicted the battleground states of the 2008 presidential election would be New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada, saying, "If Democrats can win three of those four, they can lose Ohio and Florida, and win the presidency."[13]
Red states and blue states
According to The Washington Post, the phrases red states and blue states were coined by Tim Russert, although in that same article Russert states that he wasn't the first to use the terminology
