On The Media

The recent death of Mr. Russert is surely a shocking and truly sad but with due respect, I think the media and MSNBC in particular are doing precisely what Mr. Russert would not appreciate and that is they are NOT doing the news. To spend two full days and who know how many more are to come on the subject of his death I think goes beyond the norms of what a newsroom does. Mr. Russert was a dear friend to his colleagues and loved by them very much and they will miss them and we got that on the first day but they seem to bringing into public view the mourning and memorializing that should be more private and among themselves. Certainly I mean no disrespect to Mr. Russert but let's get on with the news.

A similar expression of grief overcame the media and ABC, in particular, with the loss of Peter Jennings. It is only since that time that I began to become acquainted with Russert’s work and, frankly, with the loss of that pair it would seem that very little sense of serious commitment to public service is left in the part of the commercial media networks which we define as part of the "press".

As "Meet the Press" made clear this week, Mr. Russert was a bit thin skinned and, thus, I am especially glad that I did not pile on in the "opponents may say" controversy last week.