A few years ago I got very strict about exactly how I was spending my time and what information I was consuming.  I stopped regularly watching all television shows, every single one, except one:  Meet the Press.  I have watched Meet the Press every Sunday since 1995.  Even when I went on vacation, I made sure the VCR was set to record it, and when they started offering Meet the Press as a podcast, I would download it every week.

In my opinion, there simply was not a better television journalist on the planet.  And he made it look easy, clearly because he did his homework better than anyone in the business.  Sometimes I forgot just how good he was at his job, until he took his one or two Sundays off during the year and someone else substituted.  Even though the sub was a very senior, very experienced journalist, it was clear that they just weren’t in the same league.

But what impressed me the most about him was that he asked the questions that needed to be asked, that must be asked, in order to keep our democracy strong.  And, he asked those questions in the most fair, professional manner possible.

Someone else will have to take over Meet The Press, but Sundays will never be the same without him.  Thank you, Tim, for showing us the gold standard for journalism, for showing us what we should expect of our journalists when we watch them on TV.  Democracy is stronger because of you.