One exhibit at Washington, D.C.’s Newseum has generated questions about its purpose: the re-creation of long time “Meet the Press” moderator Tim Russert’s NBC News office.
As a description of the setting tells visitors, the office is intended to resemble the way it looked on Friday, June 13, 2008--the day Russert collapsed while preparing for his next broadcast and died of a sudden heart attack at age 58.
But its presence has led some observers to wonder whether, at least in this instance, the Newseum has gone from being a museum of journalism to one of worship of a journalist celebrity. The exhibit's design is in keeping with NBC’s carefully crafted image of Russert both before and after his untimely death.
Dominant place in American political discourse hosting “Meet the Press”
Few could dispute that he held the dominant position in Sunday talk shows as host of “Meet the Press.” That was not just his length of time on the job (nearly 17 years), but also his intense preparation for each program, his commanding skills as an interviewer, and even his force of personality.
Many Republicans who appeared on the show said they didn’t feel Russert was unfair to them or questioned them differently because he had previously worked for two prominent Democrats--U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York and New York Governor Mario Cuomo.
Russert spoke often on the air about his love of family -- including his elderly father whom he wrote about in two books, celebration of working class roots, his Catholic faith, and his devoted support of his hometown football team, the Buffalo Bills.
Several of those aspects of his life and work are visible at the replica of his office at NBC’s Washington bureau. Visitors can see his stacks of books, newspapers, transcripts, and research materials.
His customary reading publications included the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Review, Financial Times, The New Yorker, Economist, Politico, New Republic, The Hill, and National Journal’s Hotline.
His computer sat on the credenza behind his desk, with a special phone connecting him to Washington bureau chiefs from other networks for discussion of pool coverage and other topics. Russert’s basic work tools were his yellow highlighter, blue sticky notes, a pack of Uni-ball pens, his glasses, and appointment book. He took notes and wrote out questions by hand and had a dictionary and atlas nearby.
More than 300 books filled Russert’s office bookshelves, including those written by authors who appeared on “Meet the Press” and his weekly MSNBC TV program, “The Tim Russert Show.”
The Newseum exhibit also notes Russert’s “hard-hitting interview style and ability to cut through political spin.”
Russert thought to have known and valued his celebrity status in Washington
Writing about him in the wake of his death in the New York Times June 15, 2008, in “Tiny Town: Washington After a Fall,” Mark Leibovich said: “Mr. Russert liked to seem sheepishly above-it-all, but was also as acutely status-conscious, befitting the local water.
He was always mindful of not appearing too often on MSNBC, NBC’s cable cousin, for fear of diluting his big-league brand. He was known primarily as a TV star to most people, but often identified himself by his more hierarchical title, ‘Washington bureau chief.’”
In a 2009 article appearing in Slate before the Russert exhibit opened, Jack Shafer said it was part of the “canonization” under way since the aftermath of Russert’s death. Shafer asked why “Russert’s mundane workspace [was] worthy of preservation in a museum.” “Not to take anything away from Russert, but neither his career nor his office are worthy of commemoration, let alone veneration.”
Different observers have commented that they thought he knew he held center stage in the world of U.S. political coverage and sometimes received over enthusiastic praise from his establishment friends.
One criticism of Russert voiced while he was alive, was over his repeatedly giving a lengthy forum on his program to opposing husband and wife political strategists James Carville and Mary Matalin. Steve Komacki, writing in “The Carville-Matalin Joke Is on Us” in the November 26, 2007 New York Observer, suggested it was more a personal favor (his son Luke hosted a satellite radio sports talk show with Carville) for Russert to feature the couple so often primarily offering their own spin on those candidates for whom each was then working.
“Does Mr. Russert, the host of what is supposed to be the pre-eminent news discussion program on television, actually believe that Mr. Carville and Mrs. Matalin provide viewers with objective analysis? And why does he continually include them -- on a regular panel that also features Republican Mike Murphy and Democrat Bob Shrum -- without offering a similar platform to any of the other candidates’ prominent supporters?”
Cited fondness for Nantucket and Washington Palm Restaurant
While Russert was on the Newseum’s board of directors and once said two of his favorite places were Nantucket and Washington’s Palm Restaurant known as a watering hole of movers and shakers, NBC has tried to mold the perception of him as a regular guy who merely rose to the top of his profession.
Those who are harder in their judgments say he presented himself as a watchdog, but was someone who genuinely sympathized with most politicians and for that reason posed usually safe and predictable questions and was not nearly as aggressive and relentless an interviewer as his reputation would indicate.
Luke Russert who impressed many with his poise and self-assurance when eulogizing his father is now NBC’s congressional correspondent. His hiring by the network shortly after his father’s death, as part of NBC’s 2008 political convention coverage, provoked some adverse reaction, including from journalists. (His mother is Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth.)
But his reporting on Congress for NBC has been generally well received. He appears in a taped segment at the Newseum exhibit talking about his father’s career.
For Tim Russert’s family members, colleagues, friends, and regular viewing audience, the shock and deep sorrow over his unexpected loss and the memory of his public impact may be reason enough to memorialize him at the Newseum, through capturing his workplace.
It was there that those who knew him recall how ambitious he was for his friends and others with whom he interacted professionally and wanted them to do well too.
Source:
- Visit to Newseum
- Mark Leibovich, “Tiny Town: Washington After a Fall,” New York Times, June 15, 2008
- Jack Shafer, “The Newseum’s Tim Russert Shrine, Slate, October 8, 2009
- Steve Komacki, “The Carville-Matalin Joke Is on Us,” New York Observer, November 26, 2007
John Seidenberg - John Seidenberg has worked on newspapers, newsletters, radio news, and produced specialized news publications as well as freelance ...
