Luke Russert Talks About Nepotism Charges, MSNBC Career

The Daily Beast:

He is relaxed, earnest and witty during the rare interview, granted only after months of requests (the NBC publicity team is very protective of him and discouraged me from following him while he works). On camera, though his delivery is greatly improved from his sometimes halting debut, Russert sometimes seems like a class cutup standing up extra straight and trying not to let a curse word slip. That has the effect of restraining his personality, in contrast to his father's passionate performances.

...He knows what some colleagues and detractors say--that he wouldn't be in this job if not for his last name. "I just try to really block that out," Russert says. "The news media is a results-oriented business. I don't think a company like NBC would pay me if I wasn't qualified and wasn't able to produce on this level...

"There will always be people who will say, 'Oh, he's only gotten where he is because of his father,' and that certainly helped. But I've been able to stay here because of me."

Read the whole story: The Daily Beast

Comments

[itzy8940]

11:48 AM on 12/10/2010

I don't mind people getting their foot through the door by having a famous relative; just as long as they deliver the goods, so to speak. From the few reports that I've seen with Luke Russert, his father would be proud. He's pretty good.

[Coco Lily]

11:24 AM on 12/10/2010

Luke has some pretty big shoes to fill. His dad Tim Russert is still a legend at those Algonquin Club type breakfast shops where veterans and retirees congregate each morning. The menu is usually eggs, bacon, ham and politics. While they disagree on some issues, they'll always consistent in their praise of Tim Russert the master inquisitor.
I was skeptical of Luke's ability at first but he's becoming quite the journalist just like his Dad. I like him!!

[rudolphjones]

10:14 AM on 12/10/2010

Luke and Jenna. Affirmative action for rich white people!!!

[lmab]

01:08 AM on 12/10/2010

Wow. I would never have guessed Luke had a famous daddy. I just thought he was the most brilliant high school reporter that ever walked the Earth.....kind of like those kids that make the leap from HS right into the NBA.

[muhltrayne]

11:54 PM on 12/09/2010

I'm glad he's got this job...He is hanging around at the Capitol and learning. He will probably be the go to expert on Congress within five years.

[LaughingMan]

10:57 PM on 12/09/2010

I don't know why everyone is acting so surprised by this.
I mean it's not like MSNBC and their sister network MSNBC don't have a fine tradition of doing this sort of thing.

See:-
Jenna Bush Hager, Mika Bzricinski (sp??), Maria Shriver, Katherine Schwarzenegger (what's that ? not yet? Give it time) etc etc etc.

[VOTER]

07:25 PM on 12/09/2010

An article  written by Howard Kurtz which  praises Luke Russert.
What a joke!
IMO, Luke's colleagues and detractors have got it right - Luke wouldn't be where he is
now without this famous last name. Period.

[Coco Lily]

11:29 AM on 12/10/2010

Sure his last name may have opened the door for Luke but it won't guarantee his tenure.
BTW his Mom is journalist Maureen Orth. He's destined to succeed; it's in his genes.

[VOTER]

01:50 PM on 12/10/2010

I agree. Luke is genetically predisposed to host, "Meet The Press," and David
Gregory has lowballed the show so much that Luke could become the Host
this Sunday. "It's in his genes." lol

[Sliceman]

07:17 PM on 12/09/2010

What nepotism?? Luke had a long, storied journalism career before his dad died!

[VOTER]

07:51 PM on 12/09/2010

Are you joking"
Or do you consider Luke's  college radio sports show with Jim Carville to  have been
"serious journalism?"

[LaughingMan]

10:58 PM on 12/09/2010

LOL!!!!

[ScarlettMocha]

04:46 PM on 12/09/2010

Luke, have you met Jenna Bush Hager, you two may have something in common.

[petman2001]

02:55 PM on 12/09/2010

OK, NBC. A respectable amount of time has passed since Tim died. You can go ahead and fire Luke now.

[VOTER]

07:26 PM on 12/09/2010

So true.
Fanned  & Faved.

[sincerelyty]

02:50 PM on 12/09/2010

I have a friend who works for MSNBC as a production assistant and she's admitted that there is no way any other 25-year-old would be reporting on the steps of Capitol Hill without extensive experience. This is nepotism at its finest!

[VOTER]

07:27 PM on 12/09/2010

BINGO!

[NaaJane]

01:32 PM on 12/09/2010

so what's new? no one said a word when jenna bush was hired by nbc. people benefit from having famous famous last names or having family, or friends with connections. it happens in entertainment, in politics and even at the level of small businesses. the list is endless. BO is one of the few people to rise to the very top without any family connections, and that drives a lot of people crazy.

[JackTheSkipper]

10:44 PM on 12/09/2010

As much as I dislike Sara Palin, you can say the same for her too. She is a dingbat but used her mental m/dgine8tness to get where she is. You have to admire her for that.

[LaughingMan]

10:52 PM on 12/09/2010

" no one said a word when jenna bush was hired by nbc"

No one said a word???
Where were you when that news was announced here on HP? There's was an uproar over how ridiculous it was that she was just walking into a job like that while lots of way more qualified J-School grads were busy pounding the tarmac trying to get hired (courtesy of her Daddy dearest's recession) who should have been considered ahead of her.

[EStreetShuffler]

11:35 AM on 12/09/2010

To everyone who is banging on this kid, let me ask you a question.

If you had an opportunity to get a great job and the offer was based on who your parents were, would you turn the job down? ("No, give it to someone else without a family name. I want to struggle first..."

Really?

Luke acknowledged that he got the gig because he's Tim's son. He's not denying it. But he's right about how he'll keep the job. He'll have to be good. What do you want him to say? I get the impression that he knows what it takes to succeed in this business and he's working hard at it.

[booond]

12:29 PM on 12/09/2010

He'll keep the job longer than he should because of his father who was vastly overrated.

[VOTER]

07:28 PM on 12/09/2010

X2

[VOTER]

07:37 PM on 12/09/2010

NBC put Luke on the air so quickly after his father's death that Luke should
have had the integrity to have told the network, "No."
He should have requested working at a local network affiliate to learn the ropes, but
he was too much of a "diva" to do so.
On the air:
He wasn't prepared. He looked foolish. He was a joke. 
After horrible reviews, NBC took him off of the air and sent him
to a hair stylist,  clothing stylist and on-air journalism coach before
bringing him back.

No Special Treatment? Right!
LOL

[EStreetShuffler]

12:19 PM on 12/10/2010

How do you know he's a diva? Do you know him personally?Have you heard stories from reliable sources that he has a giant ego, makes demands of others, is hard to work with?

Why should he learn the ropes in Tinytown, USA when he can learn at the network? If your son was offered a network reporting gig for undoubtedly decent money, would you really tell him to turn it down and go work somewhere else for peanuts? Why? If NBC is willing to hit a few bumps with him, why shouldn't he seize the opportunity he's been given.

A rookie quarterback in the NFL learns a lot faster when he's put out there with the starters every Sunday, as opposed to being a back-up who gets his reps during practice only.

And as someone married to a longtime TV news anchor, I can tell you that at the network level, they all have stylists who work with them. Plenty of on-air reporters an anchors don't pick out their own clothes. He's no different in that respect. And if NBC got him a coach to help with his reporting, good for them. The idea of mentoring or continuing education happens all over the place in business.

Give the kid a break. You don't like him, switch channels.

[politicaljunkie41910]

11:19 AM on 12/09/2010

Of course it's nepotism. It's a shame that people of priviledge always seem to try and sugarcoat it and call it something else. I remember seeing Tim Russert in an interview just days before his son's graduation and when asked what his son's plans for the future were, he replied that his son didn't know what he wanted to do yet, besides getting drunk or words to that affect.

How many college grads do you know of whom, on the eve of graduation from an elite school, doesn't know what they want to do? I thought to myself, yeah, he doesn't have to know what he wants to do because daddy, the most prominent name in NBC News, will take care of that.

Nepotism has always been the white man's affirmative action vehicle. If your family wasn't rich, it was getting your boy into the Union you worked for.

So don't kid yourself Luke. We've seen your initial interviews at the DNC and RNC Conventions. If your name wasn't Russert, your chunky little self would have been in charge of keeping the cable cord untangled at best.

[Deucejack]

01:30 AM on 12/09/2010

Hey Luke... you may not want to accept the fact that NBC pays you because your father died... but that is the reality.

[VOTER]

07:28 PM on 12/09/2010

X2