by D. Cupples | Satirist Jon Swift has been gone for a while, but he's back -- and he's done a wicked tribute to Tim Russert. Below is just a taste of it:
"Universally acknowledged by Washington's elite to be one of the most important people who ever lived on Earth, if not the most important person, Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert was given a state funeral yesterday that rivaled the send-offs for such beloved and powerful men as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. The impact of Russert's death on humanity is only just beginning to be felt, but one of its most immediate and profound effects may be on the U.S. election."
"Russert's friends and colleagues were understandably shocked by Russert's premature passing. If an overweight workaholic with diabetes and a history of coronary artery disease can suddenly die without warning, is any one of us safe?..."
"Russert brought something to television journalism that had never been tried before. Instead of asking questions off the top of his head, he had his staff do research on his interviewees and actually used some of that research in his interviews. Many politicians had never been confronted with their own words before and his unique interview style caught many of them off guard, but it also gave them a chance to look good by showing that they could withstand tough questioning by giving vague, noncommittal answers....
"Doing research and asking follow-up questions were not Russert's only journalistic innovations. Russert invented a new rule of journalism, which should be called the Russert Rule as a tribute to him. As Russert explained when he testified in the Scooter Libby trial, "My personal policy is always off the record when talking to government officials unless specified."
"For years journalists considered all conversations with public figures to be on the record unless it was made clear before the conversation took place that it was off the record. This made many politicians understandably distrustful and wary of journalists. But Russert, in a flash of brilliance, realized that it would be much easier to cozy up to politicians if he simply reversed this rule making all conversations off the record unless everyone agreed they were on the record beforehand. This reversal of journalistic precedent changed the way journalism is done...."
Mr. Swift also covers Mr. Russert's handling of Scooter Libby and the Iraq war. Please, head to Jon Swift's blog, check out the rest of his tribute. While there, it couldn't hurt to leave a comment welcoming him back and urging him to not stay away so long next time.
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