G.E.Russert gets dissected & pinned: "Why you don't have to watch MTP anymore"

[UTUSN]

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http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-colin0311.artmar11,0,1517703.column

Tim's Policy Offers Utter Impunity

March 11, 2007
Colin McEnroe

.... In his own trial testimony, Russert explained his own unique approach to the concept of "off the record" conversations with public officials. Russert said public officials do not have to ask to go off the record with him. They are always presumptively off the record. Then, if he wants to get them on the record, he revisits the point and asks them to go public.

This is a wonderful, generous strategy, and the only problem with it is that it represents a complete inversion of the standard operating practices of journalism. Every reporter who works at this newspaper, and pretty much every reporter professionally employed at any other reputable organ of the press has been instructed to do the opposite: assume that every utterance is on the record unless the utterer has explicitly gone off the record before uttering. ....

But Russert's policy is one of his own invention, and it's the kind of policy you'd have if you prized your cozy relationship with powerful people more highly than you prized your role as a reporter.

I mention all this because, here and there, you read comments about the prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and how much he damaged the First Amendment by sweating a bunch of journalists. Please. It's more like he lanced some kind of infectious boil.

And I mention it because now you don't have to watch "Meet the Press."

I'm sure that if Russert apologizes for pretending to fight a subpoena without telling us he had already sung like a canary or if he renounces his cozy relationships with the powerful, someone will tell you. Not me. ....

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[central scrutinizer]

1. what a tool

<>

[GeorgeGist]

2. Integrity is for paupers - Tim Russert, 1992

http://www.makethemaccountable.com/podvin/media/020109_Russert.htm

[glitch]

5. Souls are for suckers.

Just paraphrasing.

[KoKo]

3. McEnroe gets out the connection between Carville and Russert's Son...

Hmmm. A Cheney adviser knows that NBC's Russert hates NBC's Matthews and that Russert will be helpful.

A couple of connectable dots involve Matalin's husband, James Carville, and Russert's son, Luke, who together launched a satellite radio sports talk show called "60/20," a reference to their respective age groups, apparently because the title "A Giant Talking Adder and an Unqualified Stripling With a Famous Dad Discuss Big Strong Sweaty Men" was already taken by the Sci-Fi Channel.

Tim Russert and Carville actually promoted the sports show on "Meet the Press" (where Carville and Matalin regularly appear) without revealing that Luke Russert was the second host, as if that somehow removed the taint of hand-in-glove favoritism from this plug.

So Russert gets his kid a fancy gig with a famous and wired guy like Carville. It hardly comes as a surprise to think that Carville's wife feels she has a little inside advantage in playing Russert for Cheney's benefit.

[KoKo]

4. K&R...a Real Journalist get's the truth out about Russert/Cheney/Carville Connection!

No one else is talking about the Matalin/Carville/Russert/Cheney exposure. It's swept under the rug.

Thanks for posting this!

[gratuitous]

6. A salient point that has gone largely overlooked

And McEnroe nails it precisely: Every other journalist in the land is on the record at all times unless by prior agreement with the subject, they go off the record. For Russert, everything's a dry run, a free pass, a rehearsal. If someone says something revealing to Russert, they are secure in the knowledge that Timmeh won't air their comment without asking first "Mother may I?" No wonder he's the go-to guy for this administration: When Unca Dick wants to rant and rave about how unfair it all is that the people are demanding to know what their elected officials are up to, he knows he can vent to Russert who won't say a word publicly about it. But inevitably, Cheney also knows that Russert will be infected by the contagion of his madness, and will tilt his commentary to conform with Cheney's. So Timmeh goes on the air, presents Cheney's squealings as his own, and credulous people get the impression that it's somehow underhanded for the public to know what their elected officials are up to.

No, you really don't have to watch Meet the Press.