Russert
Those within the MSU College of Communication Arts and Sciences are mourning the death of a man who led the way in the journalism field.
Tim Russert, a political lifer who made a TV career of his passion with unrelenting questioning of the powerful and influential, died of a heart attack Friday in the midst of a presidential campaign he’d covered with trademark intensity. Praise poured in from the biggest names in politics, some recalling their own meltdown moments on his hot seat.
“It’s a really big loss,” said Robert Albers, senior video specialist for the telecommunication, information studies and media department. “He was a guy who was always very prepared, he was as nonpartisan as you could be, and was always looking for the real story behind what the politicians tried to tell him.”
Russert, 58, was a political operative before he was a journalist. He joined NBC 25 years ago and ended up as the longest-tenured host of the Sunday talk show “Meet the Press.”
The death of Russert came as a shock because he was not considered to be in poor health, said Ari Adler, adjunct instructor within MSU’s School of Journalism.
“Tim was a very strong person,” Adler said. “When you look at it from the industry standpoint, we lost a great leader in the journalism world.”
Russert’s journalistic methods are relayed to students in the classroom, Adler said.
“He had a watchdog-journalism type role that we always try to teach students,” he said.
He was an author, election-night fixture and moderator for numerous political debates. Russert also was NBC’s Washington bureau chief.
NBC interrupted its regular programming with news of Russert’s death and continued for several hours of coverage without commercial break.
Tom Brokaw anchored a special edition of “Meet the Press” on Sunday, dedicated to Russert.
Familiar NBC faces such as Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams took turns mourning his loss.
Williams called him “aggressively unfancy.”
“Our hearts are broken,” said Mitchell.
Russert had been recording voice-overs for this Sunday’s “Meet the Press” when he was stricken, NBC said.
Russert’s internist, Michael A. Newman, said cholesterol plaque had ruptured in an artery, causing sudden coronary thrombosis.
An autopsy showed Russert had an enlarged heart, NBC reported, and had been diagnosed with asymptotic coronary artery disease.
Russert, of Buffalo, N.Y., took the helm of the Sunday news show in December 1991 and turned it into the nation’s most widely watched program of its type. He was known for his unrelenting style of questioning.
Russert was also a senior vice president at NBC, and this year Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
He had dozens of honorary college degrees, and numerous professional awards including an Emmy for his role in the coverage of President Ronald Reagan’s funeral in 2004.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
Russert was married to Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine. The couple had one son, Luke.
Staff writer Marilyn King contributed to this report.
