June 13, 2008
Tim Russert Dies of Heart Attack
The New York Post is reporting that Tim Russert, longtime host of Meet the Press and Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News, has died suddenly of an apparent heart attack. Incredibly sad. He was only 58. More as we hear it.
UPDATE: The New York Times confirms Russert died this afternoon. WTOP has word that D.C. Fire and EMS responded to the NBC News Washington Bureau on Nebraska Ave. NW at 1:41 p.m. and found Russert in cardiac arrest. He was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
UPDATE II: Tom Brokaw came on the air around 3:40 p.m. and confirmed that Russert had died this afternoon at NBC's D.C. offices. Russert had apparently been recording voiceovers for Meet the Press when he collapsed. Video below.
D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty just released a statement: “On behalf of the residents of the District of Columbia, I want to extend our deepest condolences to the family of Tim Russert. He was a gifted journalist and a guide to the American political system for millions of television viewers. He was also a District resident and fixture in the nation’s capital for decades. We were privileged to have him be a part of our community, and will miss him greatly.”
Russert, who started in politics working for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Governor Mario Cuomo, was hired by NBC in 1984 and became Washington bureau chief in 1988. He had hosted Meet the Press since 1991, but his insightful political analysis reached even broader audiences during the 2000 election: When it was unclear how the election would turn, Russert used a dry erase board to explain the electoral college count. His use of a dry erase board was selected by TV Guide and TV Land as one of the 100 Most Memorable moments (#68) back in 2004.
Also in 2004, the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz wrote a feature on him, "Tim Russert is the quintessential Washington insider, a man with tentacles deep into the political and media worlds, one of the few journalists in a puffed-up, preening profession who really matter." This year, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people.
NBC News recently revealed ambitious plans for covering the Democratic and Republican conventions--20 hours of live coverage each day; Russert would have provided coverage and analysis of the vice-presidential and presidential candidates' acceptance speeches. Here's how Russert predicted electoral maps for the 2008 election back in April, looking at possible Obama vs. McCain and Clinton vs. McCain matchups.
Russert, who regularly contributed to WTOP, had discussed the Obama's campaign's new website to fight myths about Obama this morning (MP3).
Jen Chung contributed to this post
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I guess now it should be called "Meet the Reaper".
Oh I kid, I kid. Great guy, will sorely be missed.
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OMG! What an incredible loss.
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wow, he's one of the few people I really admire journalistically and just as a man. I am so so sad. a real dc'er too. rode the metro. often.
@evilfremen: not really funny. not at all actually.
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A giant has fallen. Tim, we'll miss you.
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heart sunk actually. wow, this is terrible news.
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Yet Bill O'Reilley continues to walk the earth.
There is no God.
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NBC News via MSNBC has confirmed.
Damn.
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I just saw him earlier this morning walking along Wisconsin Ave near the CVS in Tenleytown!
Wow, none of us know when our chips will be called in.
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geez. today really is a crappy day.
*goes back to sucking on margarita popsicles*
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Very sad.
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My heart sank too. This is so very sad. :(
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man that's sad. what an earnest, enthusiastic, and all around good guy.
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And we thought the Metro getting f-ed up was bad. This fall's election coverage isn't going to be the same without him.
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And we thought the Metro getting f-ed up was bad. This fall's election coverage isn't going to be the same without him.
No kidding. Who am I gonna watch this year at 2 a.m. when the outcome is still in doubt?
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This is a truly sad and shocking loss.
My thoughts go with his family. He was a heck of a guy and a good, trusted voice in the media.
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Oh hell, and R. Kelly was just found not guilty. Can this day get any worse?
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the man was great. a sad sad day.
of course, CNN is already advertising Larry King's show tonight, devoting the full hour to Tim. Jesus...give it a rest. It hasn't even been an hour since the story broke.
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Thats really, really sad. I watched him every sunday morning. it's going to be tough to watch it without him. What a great journalist and a great person.
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i just saw wolf on CNN asking james carville if he had any inkling that this was going to happen.
james carville's not an MD, wolf. give it a rest.
seriously, wolf blitzer is the worst "journalist" in the history of television. why did you have to take timmeh, god? you smote the wrong guy!
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IMgoph:
Are you forgetting about Lou Dobbs?
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This is depressing news. Rest in peace, Tim.
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jpl1019: i don't watch him. does dobbs call himself a journalist, or is he just a TV personality?
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As entertaining as Chris Matthews can be, I really hope he does not take over MTP.
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Wow. I'm surprised by how down about this I am. "Meet the Press" is very often the highlight of my week whether I catch it when it's aired, on MSNBC's website or sometimes even the C-SPAN radio re-broadcast I just never felt complete without my weekly dose of Russert on "MTP."
So many political journalists can hardly hide their bias, if they bother hiding it at all. Russert was one of the few that seemed genuine in his desire to just get to the heart of the issue, whatever it may be. And it never felt -- to me at least -- that he was ever trying to show people up or trying to boost his own ego.
My thoughts go out to the Russerts and to the folks at NBC.
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So it goes.....
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Wow, I'm floored. I can't imagine Sunday mornings without a cup of coffee and Tim Russert on MTP. Way too young...
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Very sad, and so young! They say it was a heart attack, but my first thought was "pulmonary embolism", since he just flew back to DC from Italy yesterday.
PS I saw him once in Woodley Park in the 1990s, with some family members or friends, walking a dog.
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Tough day for the fourth estate; one of political journalists who actually fact checks passes on. So many campaigns yet uncovered, so many books about his dad yet unwritten..
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Blittle, how many pops you up to now?@#?
Also first line of "Meet the Reaper" made me shoot beer out of my nose, good one.
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Today sucks :(
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second paragraph after video, i think you're looking for "electoral college count." at least you dropped the 'u' and not the 'o'
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Wow. I'm shocked and terribly saddened.
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God, this is awful.
Don't forget...Rush is still with us.
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WHAT WILL BECOME OF US!?!?!?!
this is the most sincere frowny face i have ever typed
:-(
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so sad... he will be greatly missed and no one will ever be able to fill his shoes.
a good one was lost today. it's always the good ones that leave us way too soon... :-(
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not to sound insensitive, but DCist - didn't you recently run a story on the fact that survival rates of heart attacks are very low in the District?! i hope the press is investigating this along with those statistics. maybe now health care and first responders will get their act together and work to raise those stats.