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Coverage began shifting Monday from tributes to analysis of possible successors and criticism of NBC's coverage of one of its own. Earlier posts: Ken Auletta on Russert's edge, Al Tompkins on how to interview like Russert, David Shedden's Front Page wrapup, and Jill Geisler on Russert as a leader. By Al Tompkins, Broadcast and Online Group Leader

Even before the funeral, the backlash has started against NBC's massive coverage of Tim Russert's death.

The backlash is not about the highly-respected Russert. It is about the hour upon hour of coverage devoted to his death by NBC and MSNBC. The blog site Balloon Juice, for example, said:


While the second largest city in Iowa flooded, while students sandbagged the University of Iowa, while Des Moines hurried to save its city from rising water, NBC Nightly News devoted its entire Friday evening program, plus an evening special and a special edition of "Meet the Press," to Russert's death. Read more
Ken Auletta of The New Yorker on what set Russert apart
Ken Auletta, one of the nation's leading chroniclers of the media world, remembered Tim Russert on Friday for the characteristics he said set him apart: preparation and humor.

Contrasting Russert with previous hosts of "Meet the Press" -- and with many other journalists -- Auletta said: "They didn't do two things that Tim did."

He said Russert prepped for the show "like a lawyer preparing for a Supreme Court argument ... not just the questions but the film clips he would show, many of them very embarrassing." Read more

Reveling in the Challenging Stories

A tribute from Albert Oetgen, senior producer, "NBC Nightly News" and Poynter Ethics Fellow

Tim was a leader and role model for everyone who worked with him.

 

AP Photo

At his core, he was simply a reporter. And he was the finest reporter I have ever known. He was unaffected by celebrity. And like the good Irishman he was, he was blessed with the common touch. He treated everyone who worked for him with equal respect no matter who they were or what they did.

There was a week early in the primary season when the Republican race was muddled. Four pivotal primaries were coming up on the same Tuesday and there was a slim possibility that four different candidates would each win a primary, further muddling the race and making our jobs all the more potentially difficult in the weeks ahead. Read more

 

'He made the show interesting to the viewers'

A tribute from Barbara Cochran, president of RTNDA

 

Tim was an executive in New York and oversaw "Meet the Press" when I was executive producer. He was very interested in the program and always stayed in touch about the topics and the guests. He would call during the program most Sundays to suggest questions that the moderator should ask. So it was no surprise to me that he was such an excellent interviewer and enjoyed being the moderator so much.

 

At the time that he became moderator (in 1991), there was a lot of talk that the Sunday shows had become too dull, that they focused on inside-the-Beltway issues too much and were too slow-paced. Tim actually slowed the show down even more by interviewing one guest for the full hour frequently, and he focused on politics and policy almost all the time. But because he was having interesting conversations with interesting people about important topics, he made the show interesting to the viewers.

How to Interview Like Tim Russert

By Al Tompkins, Poynter Broadcast & Online Group Leader

RELATED

Politicians and journalists remember Russert   RTNDA mourns Russert   Washington Post profile of Russert (2004)   New Yorker profile of Russert (2004)   CJR profile of Russert (1992)   Poynter articles on Russert   Russert's Facebook page   Russert's MySpace page   Russert speech: Preparation is key Russert's recent commencement addresses: Creighton University (2006) [MP3] American University (2005)

Tim Russert was plugged in to Washington, D.C. But it was his interviewing style and his detailed knowledge and preparation that made him a standard for political journalism.

Great journalists ask short questions. They are open-ended questions that cannot be answered with a yes or no. They provoke thoughts, opinions, feelings, explanations and emotions from the interviewee.

Too many pundits ask long, complex, multi-pronged questions to show how smart and connected they are. Not Russert. His questions were short and direct.

Let's take one of his interviews and examine how he asked questions of Sen. Barack Obama on May 4, 2008. It was a vitally important interview for Obama, who was staring the Rev. Jeremiah Wright mess in the face. The first question Russert asked was short, to-the-point and open-ended:

MR. RUSSERT: On Friday you said, "It's been a rough couple of weeks." An understatement. What has the controversy over Reverend Jeremiah Wright done to your campaign? Read more

Tim Russert as Storyteller, Mentor, Optimistic Leader

By Jill Geisler, Poynter Leadership & Management Group Leader

Tim Russert was a true MSM guy. The kind traditional journalists identify with. His work was based on research, not rhetoric. If he had biases, he kept 'em caged. He asked tough questions of everyone. He sought light, not just heat on his program. He was the engine that drove "Meet the Press" but he acted like everyman. There amid the glossiness of many TV types, Russert often looked like he'd just bounded up a flight of stairs to the studio, having paid more attention to doing his homework than his hair.

Tim Russert demonstrated key aspects of leadership. Read more

By Jill Geisler, Poynter Leadership & Management Group Leader
Originally published April 2007

The National Association of Broadcasters inducted "Meet the Press" (MTP) into its Hall of Fame as the program celebrated its 60th year on the air. The presentation began with a video marking highlights of those years:

• The nine hosts, starting with Martha Roundtree in 1947. (Can you name them all?)
• Presidents and presidential aspirants.
• Politicos famous and infamous.

The show's current moderator, Tim Russert, accepted the award for MTP, calling the program a national treasure and himself its temporary custodian.

On how he got his start:

A nun in his grade school, who decided his youthful energies needed to be channeled into something constructive, and put him in charge of the school newspaper.

On the secret to success as a moderator:

Preparation, discipline and accountability.

On past moderator Lawrence Spivak's advice to him:

Learn as much as you can about your guest and that person's positions –- and take the other side in questioning. Be aggressive, persistent, and civil. The show is never about the moderator. Read more

Tim's Tablet

 

In 2000, Tim Russert used an old-fashioned white board to remind NBC viewers that the election would come down to Florida. In 2004, Russert used a new tablet, which captured the attention of technology lovers as well as political junkies. Poynter chronicled the changing coverage.
Slate | TV Barn
No, says Jack Shafer. "I wonder whether any of the responsible journalists [behind the Tim Russert tributes] paused to think, Hey, this is really weird. We're using our unchecked editorial power to soak the nation with our tears about our friend, and that's unseemly!" || Aaron Barnhart disagrees.
> De Moraes: Tributes may not please critics, but they get ratings (WP)
> Saunders: You now know more about Russert than Vladmir Putin (SFC)
> Russert antagonist Huffington has yet to express condolences (NYDN)
> "Russert is so desperately missed because he was so necessary" (WP)