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Russert’s death should serve as reminder |
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Monday, 16 June 2008 |
I blinked several times as I stared at my computer screen Friday afternoon, trying to see if I had misinterpreted the headline in front of me.
I had not.
Tim Russert, one of the lions of the NBC news team, had passed away scarcely an hour ago as he worked to complete the latest iteration of “Meet the Press.”
I remember thinking what a truly sobering loss it was for this country, and particularly for all members of the journalistic community.
We have lost one of the guiding lights of our profession, a man with
integrity and scruples, dedicated to a solemn goal: showing this
nation the true nature of those who would seek to govern it.
Russert would not seek to inject commentary into his countless “Meet
the Press” interviews and he did not try to set a political agenda. His
intention in each interview seemed to be to present, in the most
accurate way possible, the genuine character of the politicians he
interviewed.
He achieved this goal by exhaustively researching the background and
prior statements of each interviewee, and using this research to cut
through all the half-truths and concealments in which politicians
shroud themselves.
When all was said and done, bare before the audience and the nation lay
the true personal fiber of the candidate he had interviewed, for all to
see.
The service “Meet the Press” provided was essential to the health of
our democracy, and as we examine the current state of the news media in
America, it should be abundantly clear that such services will be
sorely missed.
Russert stood in stark contrast to the loud-mouthed, artless, talking
heads that now dominate America’s political media, people for whom
volume and venom, not ration and reason, form the language of political
discourse.
I will not name these individuals here today. Their names deserve no
mention in the same breath as that of Russert’s. We all know who they
are, however, and we should be aware of the threat they pose to the
democratic process in this country.
When honest, content-neutral interviewing and reporting are replaced by
opinion and bias, which are then projected via the airwaves and
Internet to millions of households every night, the vitality of our
democracy itself is put at risk.
Slowly but surely, these biases seep into our national consciousness,
shoving aside vital coverage of the true issues at hand in favor of
rumors, personal attacks and hearsay.
The best way to honor Russert’s life and deeds is to hold all those who
claim to be journalists to the same exacting standards to which Russert
held himself.
Russert’s professional hallmarks of painstaking research, insightful
questioning and political neutrality should be held as the gold
standard for the entire journalistic community, and not allowed to fade
away upon his passing.
Those who strive to live up to Russert’s example represent the best of
the news media, and our nation would do well to listen to them.
Those who do not are unworthy of our attention.
Jeff Koehler, a senior journalism major from Greensboro, is a news reporter.
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