In Memorium: Originally Published June 14, 2008

I’d like to take this moment to write a little something about Tim Russert. As many of you know, Tim passed away yesterday afternoon at the age of 58, after collapsing at the NBC offices from a heart attack. Russert was the D.C. Bureau Chief for NBC, as well as the host and moderator of Meet the Press, television’s longest-running show, and he himself was its longest-serving host. Many of us really got to see him at his peak during this recent primary election cycle. After working in politics with Daniel Moynihan and Mario Cuomo for some years, Tim joined NBC and became its best political correspondent. His experiences, as well as his natural talent and innate intelligence led to sharp, accurate predictions and analyses, making the complicated world of politics accessible and understandable.


In this day where infotainment is the norm, where the news is often fraught with useless drivel about celebrity arrests and water-skiing squirrels, Tim was a voice of clear, objective journalism. He was never there to elicit a gaffe from politicians or pundits, but to make those people accountable for their words and what they meant. We sometimes forget that this is the purpose of the media; to uncover the truth and story behind an event, not to make the event itself. Tim Russert was the epitome of what political reporting could be, and should be.


To replace him is impossible; I do not believe that we will see a reporter of Russert’s ability, drive, intellect, or personality, or one who loves what they do so much, within the majority of my lifetime. However, we would do a great disservice to his memory if we did not carry on his lessons. It is now up to us to ask the tough questions and hold people accountable for their words, our Republican opponents and our Democratic allies both. If this country is to be the best it can be, we must always ask the difficult questions, we must always get the facts. Tim Russert would expect no less.



On behalf of the College Democrats of Wisconsin, I express my deepest sympathies to the Russert family, and his friends and associates at NBC and in the general media.