[Vision2020] Tim Russert Died

[lfalen]

This seems to be something all sides can agree on.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: Tom Hansen thansen at moscow.com
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:43:41 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Tim Russert Died

> Tim Russert, one of the most balanced newsmen I have ever had the 
> privilege of watching or listening to, has died.
> 
> -------------------------------------------
> 
> >From NBC News at:
> 
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25145431/
> 
> ---------
> 
> NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58 
> 
> Washington bureau chief, �Meet the Press� moderator collapsed on job
> BREAKING NEWS
> NBC News and MSNBC
> updated 1:28 p.m. PT, Fri., June. 13, 2008
> 
> WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, NBC News� Washington bureau chief and the 
> moderator of �Meet the Press,� died Friday after being stricken at the 
> bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58. 
> 
> Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday�s �Meet the Press� broadcast 
> when he collapsed, the network said. 
> 
> He had recently returned from Italy, where his family was celebrating the 
> graduation of Russert�s son, Luke, from Boston College. 
> 
> No further details were immediately available. 
> 
> Russert was best known as host of �Meet the Press,� which he took over in 
> December 1991. Now in its 60th year, �Meet the Press� is the longest-
> running program in the history of television. 
> 
> But he was also a vice president of NBC News and head of its overall 
> Washington operations, a nearly round-the-clock presence on NBC and MSNBC 
> on election nights. 
> 
> He was �one of the premier political journalists and analysts of his 
> time,� Tom Brokaw, the former longtime anchor of �NBC Nightly News,� said 
> in announcing Russert�s death. �This news division will not be the same 
> without his strong, clear voice.� 
> 
> In 2008, Time Magazine named Russert him one of the 100 most influential 
> people in the world. 
> 
> Timothy John Russert Jr. was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 7, 1950. He was 
> a graduate of Canisius High School, John Carroll University and the 
> Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He was a member of the bar in New York 
> and the District of Columbia. 
> 
> Senate staffer before entering journalism
> After graduating from law school, Russert went into politics as a staff 
> operative. In 1976, he worked on the Senate campaign of Daniel Patrick 
> Moynihan, D-N.Y., and in 1982, he worked on Mario Cuomo�s campaign for 
> governor of New York. 
> 
> Russert joined NBC News in 1984. In April 1985, he supervised the live 
> broadcasts of NBC�s TODAY show from Rome, negotiating and arranging an 
> appearance by Pope John Paul II, a first for American television. In 1986 
> and 1987, Russert led NBC News� weeklong broadcasts from South America, 
> Australia and China. 
> 
> Of his background as a Democratic political operative, Russert said, �My 
> views are not important.� 
> 
> �Lawrence Spivak, who founded �Meet the Press,� told me before he died 
> that the job of the host is to learn as much as you can about your guest�s 
> positions and take the other side,� he said in a 2007 interview with Time 
> magazine. �And to do that in a persistent and civil way. And that�s what I 
> try to do every Sunday.� 
> 
> Cuomo, Russert�s onetime boss, wrote of Russert: �Most candidates are not 
> eager to present themselves for Tim�s incisive scrutiny, which is fed by 
> his prodigious study and preparation. But they have little choice: 
> appearing on �Meet the Press� is today as vital to a serious candidate as 
> being properly registered to vote.� 
> 
> Russert wrote two books � �Big Russ and Me� in 2004 and �Wisdom of Our 
> Fathers� in 2006 � both of which were New York Times best-sellers. 
> 
> Emmy for Reagan funeral coverage
> In 2005, Russert was awarded an Emmy for his role in the coverage of the 
> funeral of President Ronald Reagan. His �Meet the Press� interviews with 
> George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000 won the Radio and Television 
> Correspondents� highest honor, the Joan S. Barone Award, and the Annenberg 
> Center�s Walter Cronkite Award. 
> 
> Russert�s March 2000 interview of Sen. John McCain shared the 2001 Edward 
> R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television Journalism. He was 
> also the recipient of the John Peter Zenger Award, the American Legion 
> Journalism Award, the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, the 
> Congressional Medal of Honor Society Journalism Award, the Allen H. 
> Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism, the David Brinkley Award for 
> Excellence in Communication and the Catholic Academy for Communication�s 
> Gabriel Award. He was a member of the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. 
> 
> Russert was a trustee of the Freedom Forum�s Newseum and a member of the 
> board of directors of the Greater Washington Boys and Girls Club, and 
> America�s Promise � Alliance for Youth. 
> 
> In 1995, the National Father�s Day Committee named him �Father of the 
> Year,� Parents magazine honored him as �Dream Dad� in 1998, and in 2001 
> the National Fatherhood Initiative also recognized him as Father of the 
> Year. 
> 
> Irish America magazine named him one of the top 100 Irish Americans in the 
> country, and he was selected as a Fellow of the Commission of European 
> Communities. 
> 
> Survivors include Russert�s wife, Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair 
> magazine, whom he met at the 1976 Democratic National Convention; and 
> their son, Luke. 
> 
> -------------------------------------------
> 
> >From NBC News:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-aJ42yqFZs
> 
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
> 
> "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college 
> students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."
> 
> - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------
> This message was sent by First Step Internet.
>            http://www.fsr.com/
> 
> 
> 
>