Well, TV journalism is NOW officially, unequivocally useless

[quietprofanity]

This shit ain't fair!

I never watched his show with the regularity I wanted, but the few times I saw him, I admired him. He felt like the only real journalist on TV and whenever I thought about the bad state of journalism in college, I'd remember him and think there was at least one good one out there. Even when he wasn't perfect, he was someone to look up to.

And now he's gone. It's just not fair. At least the cause of death makes sense, unlike Mike Weringo's earlier this year but ... man, this doesn't give me hope for the future at all.

Comments

[47nite.livejournal.com]

Same here. I've been relying almost exclusively on NPR and online journalism (and Olbermann), but Russert came off as objective and far less likely to trumpet the political talking points du jour. :|

Journalism is insane like that at the moment, in that it's full of intellectuals who KNOW what's wrong, but feel powerless to overcome it. At the very least they fulfill the duty of spreading the truth, through non-mainstream outlets, and not letting the liars win completely.

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

Blog journalism still makes me a bit crazy, especially when people defend it on the basis of "at least I'll get the facts I want." It always makes me think of Lewis Black going, "At some point we have to stop and agree on what reality is."

[47nite.livejournal.com]

I think Dan Rather laid it out nicely (accusing journalists who've made it and giving dire warning to those on their way up)

Ironically, with everyone clamoring for "transparency", every online article has to have a comment thread that invites all the flamebaiters to muddle the issue(s) and waste a few more of your brain cells. *-°