Excellent critique of the eulogizing of Tim Russert and others in the MSM such as Charlie Rose. It's about time someone said it.

This is an excellent commentary on the vanilla form of journalism on television. Another example of the frustratingly poor journalism, that is a disservice to our need to inform voters.

Not only does the viewpoint resonate with my experience viewing the corporate news, but it includes some exquisite quotes and turns of phrase. For example: "What we now know as the “news media” serve at the pleasure of the corporate sponsor, their purpose not to tell truth to the powerful but to transmit lies to the powerless."

The quasi-state funeral accorded to Russert was another self-aggrandizing promotion by the MSM, couched as an elegy to Russert. He was a decent journalist, but got manipulated by Cheney among others, and helped make a celebrity out of John McCain, having him on MTP more than twice as often as any other politician, even though McCain was not in the leadership of the Senate or the GOP at any (previous) point in his career. The lamentations went on for three long days as one main-stream mourner after another eulogized Russert, and by implication, shared in the glory that was supposedly reflected off him. Nobody seemed to point out that Russert, like most of the rest of the MSM, aided and abetted the administration's march to war ... More »

This opinion piece has minimal journalistic merit. A highly selective set of very short quotations are provided with no context. There is nothing else. The author is entitled to his opinions, but the piece does not demonstrate that they are more valid than those of any of the other 300,000,000 Americans about Mr Russert because there is no substance to back up the opinions.

It was not only a very good article but a very rewarding one as well. The entire funeral proceeding actually lasted beyond 3 days. It went on in the TV News programs for 2 weeks. It was repeated with exaltation about Russert's greatness as a journalist. For me it was an amazing show since I never considered Russert to be a journalist. His weekly standard of reading his guests previous quotes, his inability to really conduct an intelligent dialog was appalling & annoying. The news media have positioned themselves as celebrities to be exalted much as the second rate Hollywood celebrities. Their coverage of a mediocre journalist was astounding. Consider the short shrift they give to people who have made major contributions to the ... More »