SOUTH DAKOTA STRAIGHT TALK

Sad News – National Broadcasting Company broadcast journalist Tim Russert passed away this afternoon.

Russert was a probing journalist that transcended the talking head. He was the last in the N B C tradition of Lawrence Spivak. As Russert said each Sunday, “If it is Sunday, it must be Meet The Press.” Meet The Press generally stays on issues and above the partisan fray. In recent years Russert added a feature of having candidates from high profile U S Senate campaigns on the program before the general election. The Thune Daschle race in 2004 was one of the first, if not the first.

Tom Brokaw would be the natural replacement for Russert, certainly through the November election. Brokaw left the Nightly News because of the daily demands. Brokaw returning would be in the tradition of David Brinkley return to work in his golden years on This Week (on A B C) and would be good for NBC and certainly for viewers and perhaps (speculating here) for Tom Brokaw.

With so many irresponsible journalists out there Tim Russert will be missed.