On Deadline was compiled and edited by Mark Mahoney, editorial page editor of The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y. If you have an innovations or inspiration you'd like to share with American Editor readers, please e-mail it to Mark at mahoney@poststar.com.

Summer 2008 Russert first met the press head-on Reporting a little too well Passing the torch Good news and bad news, mostly bad Be careful what you foil for Riding the next wave Thinking outside the box

TIM RUSSERT, THE LONGTIME HOST of NBC's "Meet the Press" who died of a heart condition on June 13 at the age of 58, was fondly and effusively remembered by his colleagues in the journalism community for his fairness, tough questioning and thorough preparation.

As the tributes and accolades poured in during the days after Russert's untimely death, one longtime New York columnist remembered him for skills he developed years earlier on the other side of the journalistic aisle - as an influential aide to late U.S. Sen. Daniel Moynihan and former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.

New York Times columnist Adam Nagourney, in a column published on June 16, wrote about Russert from their days prowling the back halls of Albany, N.Y, well before "Meet the Press" made Russert a national icon of political reporting.

Nagourney, then covering the state capital for the New York Daily News, recalled his encounters with Russert in the bruising New York political climate of the 1980s, when Russert was a "political operative" for the newly elected Cuomo.

Nagourney described the Cuomo administration as "relentless in its dealings with members of the state Legislature, political foes (and allies), party leaders, lobbyists, and newspaper reporters, editors and publishers." But Russert was fairly new to that style of political hardball, as Nagourney found out when he flew into a rage while confronting Russert about an alleged leak of a story the young spokesman had made to a rival news outlet. Nagourney described Russert as terrified at the outburst, but said he quickly and skillfully acclimated himself to the style necessary to thrive in that environment.

Nagourney said Russert's political astuteness, integrity, diligence and dedication to his boss's interests were major contributors to Cuomo's elevation to national stature as a potential presidential candidate.

Nagourney concluded that it was those attributes, combined with the seasoning he gained in the ultimate fighting cage that is New York politics, that paved the way for Russert's unlikely transition into journalism - and his eventual elevation as one of the most respected individuals in his field.*