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TV newsman Russert's death a huge loss to NBC

BY VERNE GAY | verne.gay@newsday.com; Daniel Edward Rosen contributed to t

June 14, 2008

Power broker, journalist, commentator and - most importantly - a father and son, television lost a leading figure in Tim Russert, leaving an industry struggling to absorb a huge loss.

Russert revived one of the most indelible brand names in all of television - "Meet the Press" - and became a driving force in American political life as a result. According to reports on NBC, he had just returned from a trip to Italy, where his family had remained behind. Of his death, MSNBC reported that an autopsy revealed that cholesterol buildup had "ruptured an artery," leading to coronary thrombosis, or heart attack. He was 58.

A hugely popular figure at the network, particularly at Washington headquarters where he'd moderated "Meet the Press" since 1991, Russert, according to colleagues, had shown no recent sign of ill health or flagging energy. A nightly presence on MSNBC and most mornings on "Today," he had just completed a brutal schedule covering the Democratic primaries, while remaining a highly visible presence in Washington journalism and political circles. Because he was so central a figure at NBC News, his death jarred the network profoundly.

"Everybody is devastated," said Jim Miklaszewski, NBC's chief Pentagon correspondent, by phone Friday. "As hard-bitten as we all are, we can't talk to each other without breaking down. This is a huge personal loss to everyone at NBC."

"It's horribly sad," said television personality Bryant Gumbel. "Tim was a great guy. He was a buddy and a giant in the business."

On Friday night's "Nightly News," his longtime colleague Tom Brokaw, who had sat next to Russert countless nights during elections over the last two decades, said, "He raised the whole level of Sunday morning" television, and "He was so competitive. He had that great Irish-American streak. He didn't forgive and he didn't forget and he stayed on top of his profession."

Blunt-speaking, the Buffalo-born Russert, who was a huge Buffalo Bills fan, brought a certain clarity and simplicity to political reporting on TV. His style was declarative and authoritative: When he said something on the air, you'd turn to listen, and there'd be little doubt about what he had just said.

"Florida, Florida, Florida," he famously uttered [and wrote on a white-board slate] on the night the 2000 election was decided. It was the perfect summation of an entire campaign.

His greatest contribution to NBC was lifting up "Meet the Press," network TV's oldest program, which had fallen into a genteel decline. Gerry Solomon, director of the journalism program at Queens College and a former "Press" executive producer, who first put Russert on the program, said Friday, "He really restored the program to what it had been in its early days." He added, "Through the force of his personality and by turning it back into an hourlong program [from a half-hour], he wrestled it back into prominence."

"What he did was against conventional wisdom at the time," said Barbara Cochran, a former producer of the program and president of the Radio & Television News Directors Association. "He'd devote an entire hour to one interview - it was absolutely unusual and against the grain of what everyone thought worked on TV."

"He wasn't one of those guys who shot from the hip," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Washington-based Project for Excellence in Journalism. "In addition to being someone who was a serious, tough interviewer, he was aggressive about reporting. ... He wasn't going out on a limb."

During the Russert reign, "Press" became must-see TV in political circles. "There was nothing more chilling than watching Tim walk in with those two thick folders under his arm," David Axelrod, Barack Obama's chief media strategist, told CNN.

Russert was first a lawyer, then went into political life before becoming a journalist.He was considered a shrewd inside operator, but also probably one of the most effective news executives at NBC over the last 20 years.

Among his survivors are his wife, writer Maureen Orth; son Luke; and his father, Tim Russert Sr., the subject of Russert's best-selling book, "Big Russ & Me."

Daniel Edward Rosen contributed to this story.

THE MAN WITH THE QUESTIONS

BORN May 7, 1950, Buffalo. Graduate of Canisius High, John Carroll University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

CUOMO YEARS Counselor in Gov. Mario Cuomo's office in 1983 and 1984 and a special counsel to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan from 1977 to 1982.

JOINED NBC, 1984. Became moderator of "Meet the Press," December 1991.

NEWSMAN In April 1985, he supervised the live broadcasts of "Today" 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.

BESTSELLING AUTHOR of two books, "Big Russ and Me" in 2004, about his relationship with his father, and "Wisdom of Our Fathers" in 2006.

ANALYST for "NBC Nightly News" and "Today," and anchor of "The Tim Russert Show," a weekly interview program on MSNBC. Russert was a senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of NBC News.

ACADEMIC Received 47 honorary doctorates; lectured at the Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Reagan libraries.

- VERNE GAY