Tim Russert, the man who hosted NBC’s Meet the Press for many years has passed on. He collapsed and died of a heart attack at NBC Studios.

It’s a sad thing, partly because it seems as if he was one of the last few truly respected journalists around. He definitely was known for asking very tough questions to those people who appeared on his show, and never shied away from thorny issues.

Meet the Press was well known for being  one of the few prime time programs to actively attempt to question the government and make political reporting its priority.   It seemed that nearly every anchor reporting on Russert passing away remarked how the public would miss him especially in an election year like this one.

NBC’s been suffering a lot in the ratings the last couple of years, but I am happy to say that they did the right thing in this case. The NY Post says “Sources said the network allowed itself to be scooped by other media outlets as it tried to contact Russert’s wife Maureen and son Luke, who just graduated from Boston College.”

Instead of worrying about anything to do with the media, NBC spent its time trying to contact Russert’s family.

[Source: NY Post]