Tim Russert: What the Televised Grieving Says about TV News Now (Pssst: It's All about Them)

amp160Maybe we know too much now about the people who bring us the news on TV With last weekendamp8217s nearly walltowall coverage of Meet the Press host Tim Russertamp8217s sudden death we were subjected to the private feelings of a lot of public people Longtime NBC anchor Tom Brokaw who broke into network programming last Friday afternoon to report Russertamp8217s death broke down in tears on the air So did NBC political correspondent Andrea Mitchell columnist Mike Barnicle ABC doyenne Barbara Walters CBS anchor Katie Couric amp160and others who took part in tributes that ran hour after hour on NBC MSNBC and other cable channels all weekend and into Mondayamp160Russert was a respected professionalamp8212trained as a lawyer and not as a journalistamp8212but did his passing really warrant this level of coverage Peter Jennings didnamp8217t receive it when he died a few years ago and he was on the air longer as a reporter and network news anchor Russert is getting the attention after his death that is usually accorded a president or a pope One of the talking heads speaking to Keith Olbermann on NBC last night even referred to Russert as amp8220one of our great leadersamp8221 amp160Come on Itamp8217s a fine thing that so many of Russertamp8217s colleagues held him in high esteem but many of their sentiments seem more appropriate for private services than for sharing with the public All that choking and blubbing on Sundayamp8217s hourlong roundtable of grieving on Meet the Press would not so long ago have been considered gratuitous and unseemlyamp8212not to mention Mondayamp8217s Today Show which featured a full halfhour ofamp160Matt Laueramp160talking to Russertamp8217s son Luke about his father who had died just 72 hours earlier Watching it felt like intruding on a private conversationamp160That segment by the way led the morning news program on a day when 36000 Iowans had been forced from their homes by flood waters the largest number of refugees from a natural disaster in the US since Hurricane Katrina How did the Russert coverage trump that It39s sad that he died suddenlyof a heart attack while he was at work Friday at the NBC bureau in DCbut the extended wake went beyond news and into sanctificationamp160It also speaks of a creeping and persistent narcissism among the network news shows We recently had to go through Robin Robertsamp8217 cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment via Good Morning America and the death of Ann Curryamp8217s father on Today Devoting airtime to such matters may be deemed amp8220public serviceamp8221 of some sort by the networks but it actually presumes that viewers care so deeply about the people who read and report the news that we want or need to be there for events in their private livesamp160Among the more thanamp1601880 comments on HuffPoamp8217s story about Russertamp8217s death are many entreaties to let the story go to end the fawning tributes and even to allow a few critics on to balance the coverage This was as one commenter pointed out a man who hired a ghostwriter Bill Novak to write a book about his own father amp8220Big Russamp8221 There were flaws too in Russertamp8217s journalism His grinning bulldog style on Meet the Press typically amounted to confronting a Cheney McCain or Obama with past quotes that betrayed some current decision or public statement theyamp8217d made Heamp8217d sit back listen to them defend themselves and then not follow up moving quickly on to the next amp8220gotchaamp8221amp160Not to disparage Russert He was a good man doing a good job in a tough business for nearly two decadesamp160But there are a lot of media people in print and on TV and radio whoamp8217ve done better work and for far longer than he did and odds are they wonamp8217t be remembered so fondly or with such extensive fanfare after theyamp8217re goneamp160

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Tim Russert: What the Televised Grieving Says about TV News Now (Pssst: It's All about Them)

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Elaine Liner

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

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Tim Russert: What the Televised Grieving Says about TV News Now (Pssst: It's All about Them)

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