No Tim like the Present

Timothy John Russert, Jr. was born on May 7, 1950, to his truck driving, sanitation engineer of a father, “Big Russ” and his stay-at-home mother, Elizabeth. Growing up with a modest background in Buffalo, New York, Tim could only hope to make something good of himself. His father worked two jobs all of his life to be able to afford to send his children to Catholic school in hopes that they would receive a better education. Russert has said that these schools "taught [him] to read and write, but also how to tell right from wrong,” and he credits them with a lot of his success and personality structure.
He attended Canisius High School in South Buffalo and walked four miles in the snow with his sisters to get to school, four miles back home for lunch, and then back to school again. With all of his struggles, Tim “thought [he] would come up in buffalo and if [he] got real lucky [he’d] have a chance to go to college and maybe even law school and then be a good lawyer..or a good teacher…and that would be the extent of fulfilling [his] dream.” He never expected what he would accomplish or what was to come.
Tim Russert not only became the first person in his family to attend college, he graduated from John Carroll University in 1972 and went on to Cleveland State University’s law school, with the love of but lacking in the financial support his family could not provide him with. Upon joining NBC news in 1984, Russert went on to become the Bureau Chief for the network by the end of the 1980s, and soon enough, the vice president for NBC News. When he took over as moderator of “Meet the Press” the show gained fame and popularity and Tim’s career took off. With a couple of his own shows, high end positions in a major network, and a spot hosting election coverage, this man’s face became well-known around the world.
His highly thought out questions, his well-prepared interviews, and the use of his dry erase board during the year 2000 presidential elections are what Tim Russert is most famous and most known for. With all the new technology, new innovations, and impressive ways of figuring out outcomes, the method of using something all of us can probably afford, and find, proved to be the most effective, and most popular. Tim Russert’s simplicity, truth, and honesty appealed to the public at a time when these things were seemingly uncalled for. He did not become famous for his looks, his scandals, or the “people he knew”. He became famous for knowing what he was doing and doing it the best way he knew how; by being himself.
His autobiography about his father, Big Russ and Me, was a major hit in 2004 and revealed a more personal side to the person we saw on our small, flashing screens when we turned on the TV. It showed his soft side and inspired people into accepting that anyone could accomplish anything, as long as they set their minds to it. He later stated that the older he got, the wiser his father seemed to appear to him. His family was a big deal to him, and a big part of his life. This familiarity in him made him more acceptable and, somewhat loveable, to the people around him and those to whom his shows were broadcast. His death on June 13, 2008 due to heart failure was a shock and a loss for many.
Journalism nowadays, though still avid and clean, is heading toward politicized, glamorized viewpoints and headlines, and many of those presenting the information out there cannot match up with the greats by any means. People often do what they need to get ahead, even if it means not portraying the information they are giving out in the best possible way. From his dry erase board that is now in the Smithsonian, to the tears of Tom Brokaw at his memorial, reaching to the emotion-driving speech that President-elect Barack Obama gave during a charity event during the 2008 elections, Tim Russert will definitely be impossible to replace, and his loss will undoubtedly impact journalistic media as we know it immensely.

Works Cited

Catholic News Service." TV newsman thanks Catholic school teachers who 'changed my life'."
Nancy Frazier O'Brien. 26 April 2000.
< http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0002542.htm>

The Clevland State University." CSU Mourns Loss of Tim Russert, Distinguished CSU Alumnus."
Brian Johnston –Contact Provost.13 June 2008.
< http://www.csuohio.edu/news/releases/2008/06/russert.html>

Meet the Press. “Tim Russert Memorial Episode”
Tim Russert. 15 June 2008.
Copy available on Youtube by searching, “Meet the Press Tim Russert Part 6”

The St. Louis Beacon. “In Memoriam: Tim Russert."
Henry I. Schevy. 16 June 2008.
< http://www.stlbeacon.org/voices/in_the_news/in_memoriam_tim_russert>




Podcast Script for No Tim like the Present
Done by one commentator

Music Opening Song: Thunder Road by Bruce Springstein

Tim Russert is remembered by different people as different things. Many younger people do not know who he is, but have probably heard of him, and many of the older people consider him one of their own. Either way, he’s a man that’s remembered by someone, somewhere, and always will be. A lot of people didn’t realize how great this person was until he died, like most of the greats; Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe…
But Tim really was an awesome guy. When you think of him it’s usually as that big guy with the round face that’s on the news show Sunday mornings. Or he’s the dude with the dry erase board during election season screaming “Florida!” when everyone else is using high tech computers and guessing things wrong. He never really strikes you suddenly as brilliant until you really look at it. Here is a guy, who grew up poor, in a lower class family, walked 4 miles in snow to get to school, and ended up making tons of money off of his hard work in the end. It’s truly amazing. No one would’ve expected this guy from South Buffalo who struggled to pay for school, and had a dad who didn’t even make it through high school, to make it that far, but Russert did it. He was the first person to interview Pope John Paul II, made it through law school, got through all of these really great things, became the VP of NBC, and still managed to make you feel like you were buddies who were hanging out and knew each other from back in the day.

Song: How to Save a Life by the Fray
Tim Russert planned for his interviews, researched, thought out stuff. Even if he did wing anything, he still managed to be ready as best he could and to get stuff done. The dry erase board he used during the 2000 election is in a major museum, remembered by everyone, and he still plays a major role in election coverage, even though he’s dead. This person was good hearted, deep, and just all around good. He never treated anyone like he was better than they were, though granted he probably was. And his role model was his dad. He wrote an autobiography about himself, and he’s this big time newscaster, and the guy he talks most about is his father. That says something about his character all around. He wasn’t just a newscaster, he was a Buffalo Bills fan, and a son, and a father and husband, and everyone’s best friend.

Song: Keep Me in Your Heart for Awhile by Warren Zevon
Tim Russert is probably the only guy I’d let into my living room that early on a Sunday and actually listen to for that long. He was really smart, yet down to earth enough where you didn’t completely hate his guts. And he was religious and devoted. Loved his job, died doing it. And always kept his class by not picking sides during elections. He simply did what he did and left it at that. When he collapsed at the NBC offices, and Wikipedia was first to break the news, and tradition, the release of the info was so huge that everyone was up in arms over his loss. Tons of on-air specials with people who usually keep it together crying aired. Bruce Springsteen dedicated a song to him, and Barack Obama made sure he was remembered months later during elections. This guy’s death was a really big deal, especially for the time it happened. No one expected it since he’d just had a stress test, and was doing fine before. He died right before Father’s Day in an election year, doing what he loved to do, but left us with a huge gap. He’s irreplaceable, and well remembered. May he Rest In Peace.

Song to Fade out to: Thunder Road, Con’t