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Tim Russert and the olé school of journalism

Submitted by Chad on Fri, 06/20/2008 - 3:36pm.

Be-Elected

Tim Russert has been buried with a beautiful memorial service. The worlds of politics, journalism, and television have had a whirlwind in the last 7 days. What Russert's untimely death means to the 2008 race depends on which world you live in, and how it may affect you.

NBC has clearly thought naming a permanent replacement or a temporary replacement wasn't appropriate at this time and place. Brian Williams gets the first nod in the new chair (Tim Russert's son, Luke, said he now has his father's old chair), interviewing Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the guests Russert prepared for 7 days ago before he collapsed and died.

Russert has been seen as a proud beacon of journalism (from a lot of his fellow colleagues) and a reasonably nice cog, but still a cog in the MSM machine where we sort of ask tough questions, but not really getting much from the experience (many but not all BuzzFlash readers).

But I think I finally figured out where the difference comes into those two perceptions. From fair.org:

Asked about the failure to more aggressively challenge the White House on Iraq, Russert once explained (3/21/06): "Well, you know, there's really no alternative. There are a lot of people on the far right or the far left who want someone in my situation to yell and scream or lean over and choke somebody or slap them around and a lot of histrionics, but you really don't achieve anything because you make your guest immediately sympathetic, and I much prefer just to try to steady as you go, draw people out."

MSM journalism feels like bullfighting, or at least, what I perceive bullfighting to be. The bullfighter stands there with a red cape while the bull charges through, and the crowd cheers. Repeat.

This is what a lot of mainstream journalism feels like. The person speaks, let them go by without a thought, and then ask the next question. It's the olé school of journalism.

Real bullfighting is likely more machismo, which means in the world of MSM, what Russert did seems more courageous. But to the rest of us, Russert certainly was better than many "TV pundits" but still not at the level we need from worlds of politics, journalism, and television.

Daily Kos was a part of the deification of Russert

Submitted by bablhous on Sun, 06/22/2008 - 2:48pm.

The hagiography was overwhelming. I got a real taste of STFU for days there. If you weren't there to worship and adulate Russert, you were to keep your mouth shut. I can't watch Olbermann anymore - knowing that he was part of that orgy. This and the Obama-FISA deal ("Yes, we can but I won't") have been a watershed couple of weeks for me and I'm going to have to do something different from now on. I'm going to concentrate on making things safer for me and mine. The groups that I depended on and counted on cannot be depended on and counted on. This wasn't a single-issue decision -- it was a final, breaking-straw issue. I've resigned from the Democratic Party, ended all of my automatic contributions except for the ACLU. Resigned from all mailing lists except the ACLU. Buzzflash, you will get what's left after I lay in supplies for my family. Good luck, everyone.

Russert lacked objectiveness

Submitted by Captain Jessie on Sun, 06/22/2008 - 9:25am.

I cannot be a hypocrite over Tim Russert. Yes, he was a gregarious personality away from his punditry and surely, an admirable person. Admittedly, I ceased viewing Meet the Press about 5 years ago because Russert seemed to be serving his corporate masters rather than those who took in his show. I didn't dislike the man, but have to admit that it wasn't necessarily his discussions, but the discussions he muzzled. He would get his jabs in when questioning guests then dance to another subject or commercial if guests attempted to combat the jabs. Consequently, his show was a one-way street ... a corporately owned street.

Like I've Said Elsewhere - I'm SURE Russert Was a Nice Guy

Submitted by drprodny on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 6:08pm.

...and in the end, that was his problem - he didn't want to make waves so he didn't challenge The Conventional Wisdom, even when it desperately NEEDED to be challenged.

This is, I suspect, the underlying reason why Keith Olbermann has said, for two days running on his show, that he didn't "feel qualified" to take Russert's place. Olbermann may not always be as far to the Left as we'd like (though clearly he's TOO far to the Left for those Mandarins of Mainstream New York Watery Liberal Thought, THE NEW YORKER!), but he's far FAR more inclined to speak truth to power, especially corrupt power, than a Beltway Insider show like MEET THE PRESS would be comfortable with.

Russert and Reagan

Submitted by Newsguy on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 12:42pm.

The canonization of Russert after his death reminded me of the press coverage when Reagan died. It was sickening. It went on and on and on. I thought they would never stop. And so it was with Russert. The coverage was non-stop.

By giving Russert wall to wall coverage, the impression was created that Tim Russert was a media saint. But he never seriously challenged the run up to Bush's war. The media wake was an indication that Russert was a Very Important Journalist. Here's the dilemma. If Russert was so damned important, why didn't he act responsibly and challenge those who were taking us into war? Why didn't he put those on the hot seat who were advocating torture? Why didn't he ask hard question of those who were intent on trashing the Constitution?

Russert worked for NBC. That is to say, he worked for General Electric, one of the very biggest of America's defense contractors. Russert knew who he worked for. I think this goes a long way toward explaining why those hard questions were not asked. Russert was a master illusionist. He gave the impression he was asking hard questions while actually avoiding anything that would really embarrass his main employer -- G.E.

And for those who would excuse Russert, I offer two shining examples: Edward R. Murrow denouncing the McCarthy hearings and Walter Cronkite denouncing the Vietnam war. Both cases called for courage, something that journalists these days don't seem to have.

www.mcbush08,blogspot.com

I'm glad the orgy is over

Submitted by SpikeHeels on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 10:25am.

Watching the stenographic circle-jerk after Russert's death was a little nauseating and every time it started, I changed the channel. I'm sure he was a nice guy and great family man but there are millions of those across America that get no notice when they pass on. Russert and his stenographic friends helped send almost 4100 nice guys and gals to their deaths in Iraq and NBC never talks about those dead - that's sad and unacceptable.

His death got more coverage than the deaths of kings, presidents and popes. I'm sure everyone at NBC misses him but their coverage was embarrassing.

Loss of a postmodern ghost friend on the tube

Submitted by smchris on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 9:30am.

That's what it really is. Familiar electrons dancing across the glass that people thought was their friend. You step back and it felt like we lost a former president last week. Will Jimmy Carter see as much wailing on TV as we saw for Russert? But not actually watching the network propaganda for ages my sorrow was less deep. The one time in the last four years I actually watched a few minutes of Meet the Press at my aging parents place, he managed to both ask the Democrat whether he had stopped beating his wife yet and reframe the issue for the Republican into something innocuous. So, basically the MSM held a wake last week for their fallen leader that will rival that for many of our _real_ social leaders. Such is American insanity in the 21st century.

Get Real About Tim Russert

Submitted by ssg13565 on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 10:31am.

The propaganda job that the media did with Tim Russert's passing is just another example of what they do so well.

They overwhelm us with a story that they want us to believe and suppress all contradictory sentiment.

On HuffPo, I only managed to sneak past the censors one out of about a dozen negative comments about Tim Russert.

The comments that appeared on HuffPo were over 90% for the beatification of Russert. Before his death, Russert was not well liked by the readers at HuffPo. Arianna Huffington herself regularly had negative things to say about Russert. There may even have been a family feud going on between the Huffington side and the Russert side. I don't know what happened to make for the 180 degree turn-around after his death.

Russert was a one trick pony on MTP. He managed to find a recorded statement from the guest's distant past that contradicted something recent. He then confronted the guest with the made up paradox. Russert promoted cynicism but not knowledge.

As one of the other commenters here alluded to, the best judge of a journalist is the measure of what he added to the knowledge of his readers/listeners. By this standard, Tim Russert doesn't measure up very well.

ssg13565

russert

Submitted by robwalker on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 8:26am.

Not to be disrespectful of the dead, the russert memorializing was extraordinarily embarrassing and over the top. Of course, you have umpteen colleagues to wheel out and yards of tape of him so it gives you a lot of cheap television. Nevertheless, he was a 'recorder' of sorts and a moderate journalist. Dont frighten the horses early Sunday morning. Nothing too probing or passionate. Bland as it goes. He let more prey off the hook than a Sunday morning fisherman. He didnt make anything, create anything and therefore the eulogies were inappropriate. Oh, he was, by all accounts a good father and a good son. OK, but there are millions of them all over America. They wont get five days of mourning & eulogy. And, currently, they are probably losing their jobs. rob walker

Some serious dissonence

Submitted by Freedem (not verified) on Fri, 06/20/2008 - 8:51pm.

I was more than amazed to see the praise heaped on Russert by Kieth Olbermann. Clearly he a KO were friends and so some was understandable but the coverage felt waaay over the top, especially from Olbermann, who I had always felt was above such unseemly display. What all those memories poured out did most was say "wow those folks really do live and think in ways nobody I know can contemplate".

I also had seen him as a standard spin doctor for the establishment if not the far right, hard on those opposing the establishment line and easy on those supporting it, never going down the clear paths blazed by the likes of Sibel Edmonds or Greg Palast, or even John Dean.

Bill Moyers has said "Journalism and news are about what the powerful wish to be hidden, everything else is publicity" Russert was publicity.

I am sorry the man is dead and am sympathetic to the friends and family, but with the bar set that high, how can they treat the death of any other journalist with anything but disrespect by comparison.

At least the BBC did a monument for the many real journalists the put their tails on the line and died trying to show the story that the powerful wish hidden.

If the Gang Of Pirates think that the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat, only a fool would think it bipartisan to accommodate them by acting the part.

How Do You Talk About a Friend Who's Wrong When They Die?

Submitted by drprodny on Sun, 06/22/2008 - 4:12pm.

From the way he's been talking on COUNTDOWN all week, clearly Olbermann not only liked but deeply admired Tim Russert - probably b/c Russert had the equanimity that Olbermann knows he lacks. Anybody as intelligent, and (let's be honest here) arrogant and inclined to suffer fools ill, as Keith Olbermann is is certainly aware life would be so much easier if he could just go along to get along, and must sometimes wonder if all that anger isn't going to just eat him up someday.

OTOH, equanimity as a virtue is overrated, especially among those of us fighting for the soul of our country. For me at least, Keith Olbermann has something far more important than Russert's ability to "speak with malice towards none" - the courage to speak Truth to Power, especially the Corrupt Power That is George W. Bush, His Cronies and His Masters.

I guess what I'm saying, Freedem, is let Olbermann have his grief, b/c he's hardly the only person on the Left who knew and is mourning Tim Russert (i.e., Rachel Maddow seems almost as devastated on her Air America show). Maybe in the end, the best thing Russert did for those of us who know the Right is wrong is not engage them himself, but use his influence to put people like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow in position, and give them good ground where they could fight from in his memory....

Selah.

How about Far Truth?

Submitted by subhuti on Fri, 06/20/2008 - 8:04pm.

Russert claimed that there is pressure to be aggressive in his interviews by either the far right or the far left, as if the far right folks on Fox or for that matter most MSM hosts aren't the rule, rather than the exception. But what has emerged in the past few years, a narrative of the Green and pacifist Left, and the Libertarian, small government right, is a basic consensus on central issues. Like wars based on lies and construction of a police state apparatus, complete with dungeons and torture chambers. What has obviously left many following Russert's death with clearly mixed feelings, (sad to see a person die and leave a family in mourning), is Russert's obvious sycophancy. It's not about rude questioning, but about REAL questioning. "Sir, former US Weapons inspector Scott Ritter says your claims of WMD are bogus, and I agree with him, so where is your evidence?" Or "the taliban asked you to produce evidence of OBL's guilt, and Colin Powell promised it and didn't deliver it, ever. So where is the evidence?" Or "Why did the 911 Commission exclude all reference to the total collapse of building 7, that wasn't hit by an airplane or major debris?" But of course Russert never did that, and so his usefulness in fostering information necessary to functioning of a democracy was nil, if not counterproductive. It isn't about far right or far left. It's about getting to the truth, which is the goal of journalism. Alas, he had a great opportunity but most likely to keep his prestige and money, failed in his responsibility.

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