Brokaw

22 June 2008 |permalink | email article

NBC News announced today that Tom Brokaw will serve as moderator of “Meet the Press” through the presidential election in November.

Brokaw, the retired and acclaimed anchor of NBC’s Nightly News, said “I’ve been appearing on ‘Meet the Press’ since the days of Watergate when it was moderated by Lawrence E. Spivak right through the distinguished tenure of my good friend, Tim Russert, so I feel right at home.”

Not surprising, it’s a smart move by the network.

Putting the politically savvy Brokaw at the helm allows NBC News time to carefully select Russert’s successor, and preserve the top-rated Sunday show’s prestige and profitability. 

Today’s edition of show, hosted by Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, opened with the same introduction it has since 1991 with the words ‘Meet the Press, with Tim Russert,’ as if he were still alive.

The pinch-hitting Williams asked Senators Joe Biden and Lindsay Graham each a couple of tough questions, showing that post-Russert research remains alive.

But the final segment, another goodbye tribute to Russert, struck me as a bit excessive after the nationally televised memorial service which Brokaw accurately proclaimed as being “in the Irish way.”

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