I Want My Tim TV!

Last Friday I was in Las Vegas for a couple of long needed days of R&R. Fun in the sun was interrupted by a text message from a friend telling me that Tim Russert had died.

I thought to myself, "I wonder if MSNBC will have any news on Mr. Russert's untimely passing?"

Boy, did they!

Slouching into the freshly made hotel bed, I proceeded to watch hour after hour of Russert coverage Keith Olbermann anchor chops were demonstrated during the live coverage of the tragic news. Hour after hour went by without commercial interruption. It was quite remarkable.

The remembrances, sadness and condolences shared by friends, colleagues, competitors and political leaders were not only moving, but also impressive. Tim Russert appears to have been a man who loved life, friends and politics. He was undoubtedly generous as a boss, colleague, son, father, husband and godparent. My friends and I, many a few pounds beyond our fighting weight, have been shaken by the fragility of life.

The round-the-clock coverage of Tim Russert's death should remind cable news that the audience is capable of watching stories longer than 30-seconds. I go nuts when important political speeches or news analysis is interrupted to repeat the same sound bites over and over again. I could be wrong, but I didn't see any other news on MSNBC until two days after Russert's death. Even Lock-up San Quentin, The Bloopers was preempted!

MSNBC's coverage of Tim Russert's death does however leave me with a nagging question. If days of coverage can be dedicated to nothing but the death of a television figure how can I trust the editorial judgment of the news division? What stories are they not covering on a daily basis? Which issues are not being discussed? Why does 24-hour news insist on repeating such superficial coverage of so few stories?

Comments

[laksa]

A little excessive? may be. But deservingly so. Tomorrow is Sunday, no more Tim. Very sad. May be now I will watch Bob from CBS.

[RedStateCenterLeft]

As a reporter, I can say this. Like anyone who loses someone, reporters act as anyone else would"in their own way. My homemaker mom used to bake and cook and take the food to the grieving family. Reporters report, they tell stories. It's how they act out their grief. I wrote a column for my paper, OK?

Allow the poor folks at NBC News a break, people! So maybe their work was excessive. So what! They lost a friend. Let them grieve their way.

Requiem in pace, Tim Russert, Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him.

[HeevenSteven]

Absolutely correct! The whole thing was sad and ridiculous.

[uhappytoo]

You finally got to the heart of the coverage question in your last paragraph. I don't know of anyone who deserves a five-day, non-stop eulogy. So why do these cable companies even bother to call themselves news channels?

[writewoman]

I was an admirer of Mr. Russet, but the coverage of his untimely death was excessive to say the least. CNN appears to cover a slightly wider variety of news during the day than MSNBC, but the cable networds all tend to repeat whatever the story dejour happens to be. (Remembering all Monica/O.J./Anna Nicole, etc. all the time. Ugh!) I tune into MSNBC at night for the opinion programs,but even they tend to recycle the same few topics.
Call me a cynic, but it is simply cheaper to latch on to a topic and have a few talking heads discuss it nonstop than it is to send reporters out to find/investigate/analayze actual news or issues.
Call it a failure of imagination or the bottom line mentality at work, but hash and rehash is the order of the day on the 24/7 networks. Certainly Mr. Russert deserved his hour of tribute, but forty-eight plus hours of coverage is a sign of the times and the sorry state of network journalism.

[XME]

He was a good man and clearly the cared very much for him. Considering how long he was with them, I thought it was extremely honorable of them to cover it in the way they have. I also think that with his funeral being today, it will mark the end of the constant mentioning of his passing etc. These people are grieving and every one of them wants to honor him...he and they deserve that (and there are other news sources if you dont' want to watch it!)

I have a feeling that if it was someone you loved, you wouldn't consider it "superficial", but would feel honored that they cared enough to pay that much attention to his passing. And considering the number of people at his funeral, who've posted items on Huffington, etc., it would seem that there are a lot of people out there who what their chance to honor the man. That's what they need to do to move on.