The Sunday morning political shows haven't been much better than their weekday cable news cousins - outside of decibel level - for a while. Russert got a hagiography after his death from NBC that I felt would have been appropriate for someone like David Brinkley, Walter Cronkite or someone who'd done some actual reporting or journalism outside of hosting a program. It felt unseemly to me, and still does. The Newseum in town has an exhibit of his office. But it would seem, and part of the piece that started this thread suggested, that much of Russert's stature in Washington was from ass-kissing. And most of Luke's career is either straight nepotism or some sense of returning favors to a son on behalf of the dead father. (That Steve Doocy's son is doing something similar to Luke over at FNC seems about as ridiculous.)
FWIW, I think Bob Schieffer is a better host, and certainly more well-rounded journalistically, than Russert ever was. I'd have been happy if he'd taken over permanently for Rather. David ________________________________ From: Kevin M. <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [TV orNotTV] Olby: Russert's Death Started MSNBC Problems On Wednesday, June 8, 2011, Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: > Russert was a great host of Meet the Press. I prefer to acknowledge Russert as a host of MTP... not a great one. He and his team were great at research, but Russert himself never seemed able to fully engage in an interview. He was abysmal at asking often needed follow up questions, often resulting in interview subjects not fully answering questions or not addressing key issues of the day. I maintain that is why so many politicians liked going on the show... they liked the prestige, but so few people outside the Beltway watched the show that few noticed Russert never really confronted them on things that mattered. Again, one cannot deny his intellect when it came to commenting on politics; it was clearly a passion of his. But as a host or interviewer, his posthumous reputation isn't really justified. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
