Replacing Russert - You Can't Buy Journalistic Integrity

Tim Russert's death was the saddest I have experienced in my lifetime. A man in his prime, approaching one the most political battles to ever captivate our nation, suddenly watched it vaporize in front of him. Like Tantalus of old, eternally within grasp of the fruit that he so greatly desired to taste. Perhaps, that is why my grief was so great upon hearing of his death. I wasn't the only one. International figures, leaders, and mind-molders went to his funeral to mourn the death of a bastion of journalism. The ask that irks the Britney Spears addled outsider is "Why? What made him so special?".

The man stood for something, that's why. He was a reporter in the tradition of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite. There was integrity in the way he conducted himself, both on and off camera. You never saw an O'Reilly or Olbermann-like tirade come out of his mouth. His questions, as more than one associate has been quoted as saying, were "...tough, but fair." There was always an air of friendliness, an attempt at understanding a story in it's entirety, rather than focusing on a 10 second sound bite for a cheap "gotcha" moment. Most often he would read a large quantum of a singular column on-air, just to make sure the general communal was able to hear a remark in context.

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That was Russert. He was the Elliot Ness of journalism , and a servant of the general public. He was unflappable, courageous, and firm, without being a jerk about it. Now, we have to look transmit to a vastly unqualified field that is on tap to replace him. These names are not ludicrous because of a lack of accomplishment, they just didn't walk in the same sphere that Tim did. Names that have been brought up range from the semi-credible, to the laughable. Among the plausible candidates are Gwen Ifill, the snooze inducing David Gregory, Andrea Mitchell-Greenspan, or even über-wonk Chuck Todd. I would prefer Todd, except for the generally held opinion that he is entirely too nice.

Replacing Russert - You Can't Buy Journalistic Integrity

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Amongst the you-have-to-be-kidding-me-whoever-gave-you-that-idea-must...stop...laughing candidates are:

• Joe Scarborough: He's a conservative, and not that entertaining. No prestige.
• Chris "Shivers Up My Leg" Matthews: He would probably wet himself upon meeting Obama. Gets annoying fast.
• Keith "Good Night and Good Luck" Olbermann: He fancies himself the next Edward R. Murrow. I'll just set my Tivo to description all instances of "Crazy".
• Katie Couric: Yeah, like they'll let the girl who nailed the coffin shut on the "Cbs Evening News" have a shot at "Meet the Press".

A note to Nbc: If you are going to give those folks a shot, maybe I'll bring up a few other names. How about John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Rush Limbaugh, or even Michael Savage? At least they will not bore us to tears. Who knows, they might even ask sharp questions, and give us a guess to watch.

Now, for all the money Nbc-Universal has, they find they can't go buy a replacement. Why is that? If the media proclaims anything, it's that they think they have integrity. It's in their marketing, it's what they try to tell us every night. The truth is, there are very few journalists who don't want to put their spin on the issue. For the sake of clarity, I have to let you know that Bill O'Reilly is not among their number. I can't actually find whatever else who matches Russert in network or cable news. Tim Russert did not report right or left, he represented the general public. That is where the nightly news has lost it. That's where the other pundits have dropped the ball.

There are many who profess that they have journalistic ethics, who claim to uphold the sacred bond not to deceive or mislead the viewer. Their claims don't hold up. We believed Russert, because we watched him live out that ethic, every singular occasion that Meet the Press was on the air. Regardless of the political party, the hot button issue of the hour, his integrity, tested time-and-time again, held up against intense scrutiny. That's why we believed him. That's why he is irreplaceable. That's why Nbc will never be able to buy man who can utter, with absolute conviction:

"If it's Sunday, it's Meet The Press"

Replacing Russert - You Can't Buy Journalistic IntegrityChapter 01 - Triplanetary by EE Smith Video Clips. Duration : 21.90 Mins.

Book 1: Dawn - Chapter 1: Arisia and Eddore. Classic Literature VideoBook with synchronized text, interactive transcript, and closed captions in multiple languages. Audio courtesy of Librivox. Read by Phil Chenevert. Playlist for Triplanetary by EE Smith: www.youtube.com

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