Charlie Cook, a political analyst for whom I have a great deal of respect, had this to say about Tim Russert in the National Journal:"Tim Russert took television's coverage of politics and government to a level comparable to the very best in print journalism," Cook writes. "Unfortunately, that is a rare achievement."
Maybe it is a rare achievement -- these days.
But when I was growing up, it was different.
Maybe we didn't have all the options that people have today, but we had newsmen on television who were serious about bringing the news into people's living rooms -- no agenda, just the facts.
People like Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Chet Huntley, Frank McGee, Eric Sevareid, Howard K. Smith and countless others carried on a proud tradition that had its roots in the days of Edward R. Murrow (pictured above).
Journalists like that didn't believe that ratings defined their value to their fellow citizens. Neither did Russert.
Russert knew he was responsible for a sacred trust -- the public's faith that he would deliver the information that was needed to make important decisions.
"Too often, television's imprint on journalism, particularly on cable, is to political journalism what comic books are to literature," writes Cook. "Superficial and overly simplistic, hyperbolic and occasionally demagogic, too often even the most basic standards of reporting and commentary are abandoned without a second thought.
"But any show that Tim Russert was on was guaranteed to be of a standard that could be held up unapologetically to the best in print journalism."
As Bernard Goldberg writes in the Wall Street Journal, Russert had a "willingness to listen to -- and take seriously -- criticism about his own profession."
Cook admits, "I cannot claim that we were close friends, but we were friends and, more importantly, he was one of the ablest professionals I have ever worked with and a terrific person."
What higher praise can a journalist receive than that?
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