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Tim Russert, a political journalist known for his interviews with Washington’s most influential politicians through the program Meet the Press, died last June 13 at 58. Russert suffered a heart attack while recording a voiceover for the program.
Russert was National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) senior vice president and chief of NBC News’s Washington bureau. His career in NBC that started in 1984 was notable for his coverage of several US presidential elections. He spearheaded NBC News’s broadcast in South America, China, and Australia from 1986 to 1987.
Russert established himself as one of America’s most prominent political journalists when he started hosting the weekly American television program Meet the Press in 1991. His almost 17 years with the program enabled Russert to interview various national leaders on US foreign policy and economics.
Aside from being a television journalist, Russert also worked as the press secretary of former New York governor Mario Cuomo and chief-of-staff to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He also authored two books, Big Russ and Me in 2004 and Wisdom of Our Father in 2006.
Time magazine this year named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Russert also received an Emmy Award in 2005 for his coverage of former US president Ronald Reagan’s death.
Noted journalism educator Irving Rosenthal, who for four decades mentored a number of notable and distinguished journalists, died last May 18. He was 95.
In his 40 years of teaching at the City College of New York, Rosenthal became an inspiration to many prominent journalists including the late executive editor of the New York Times, A.M. Rosenthal; CBS reporter Daniel Schorr; CBS and NBC News reporter Marvin Kalb; and former editor of Business Week Stephen Shepard. His influence among these notable journalists and his immense contribution to the profession earned him the title “one-man school of journalism.”
Rosenthal’s interest in journalism was already apparent even at an early age. He became editor of a campus newspaper when he was in high school and also wrote sports articles for the now-defunct newspaper The Brooklyn Eagle.
His career in the City College included his establishment of two journalism courses in 1936. He retired from the academe as a professor emeritus of English and chairman of communications and mass media in 1976.
Apart from teaching, Rosenthal co-wrote two books—Business English Made Simple (1955) with Harry Rudman and The Art of Writing Made Simple (1958) with Morton Yarmon. He also wrote for the Times, The Saturday Review, The New York Herald Tribune, and the Public Opinion Quarterly.
New York-based newspaper Newsday quoted Rosenthal’s son Robert, executive director of the Center for Investigative Reporting in California, as saying: “(Rosen-thal) always believed a well-written, well-reported, (and) accurate story would be important, even with all the changes (in journalism).”
The Communications Alumni Association which Rosenthal founded in 1976 is awarding scholarship grants through the Irving Rosenthal Journalism Award, established by the association in honor of him.
Journalist, poet, teacher, and activist Bayani “Ka Bay” Abadilla succumbed to lymphoma last May 14. He was 67.
At the time of his death, Abadilla was Pinoy Weekly’s associate editor. He was well-praised by his colleagues in the paper. Bulatlat quoted Kenneth Roland Guda, editor-in-chief of Pinoy Weekly as saying “(l)agi siyang bukas sa pagbabago. Kahit master niya ang wikang Filipino, hindi niya pinipilit ang paggamit sa ilang mga salitang may ibang pakahulugan para sa iba (He is always open to change. Even if he had mastered the Filipino language, he did not insist on using words that may have a different meaning to others).”
Known as “Ka Bay” to many of his colleagues, Abadilla fought the Marcos dictatorship. He participated in the historic First Quarter Storm along with other youth who yearned for social change. Together with activists such as National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera, Abadilla became a member of the progressive writers’ group Panulat para sa Kaunlaran ng Sambayanan formed in 1971.
Lumbera, in his statement on the death of Abadilla, described his colleague’s contribution as not limited to arts and literature. “Walang pagod ang kanyang paglilingkod sa sambayanan (he was tireless in his service to the people),”Lumbera said.
His bravery and passion to serve the Filipino masses were evident in his works as a columnist, poet, and essayist. In November 2006, Abadilla launched Sigliwa Kamao, a collection of poems.
Abadilla also taught at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines until 2003 and had written for critical newspapers Ang Masa and Diario Uno.
Dolores “Dolly” Aglay, business reporter for the Manila bureau of Reuters News Agency (Thomson Reuters), died last May 26 after three years of battling cancer. She was 41.
Covering mostly the commodities beat, Aglay joined Reuters in 1995. abs-cbnNews.com in the article “Manila-based Reuters journalist dies of cancer” quoted Raju Gopalakrishnan, the Philippine Bureau chief of Reuters as saying: “She (Aglay) worked across all parts of the business file and pitched in on political and general news whenever she sensed it was needed, but completely owned the commodities beat.”
Aglay also worked as a business reporter for The Philippine Star before joining Reuters. |
