I never wrote a blog tribute to Tim Russert of Meet the Press fame when he died back in June, and I actually liked his show. After the traditional media went over the top with tributes, funeral coverage, and tearful goodbyes, I figured that there was nothing more that I could add that hadn’t already been said. Yes, Tim Russert was respected, a good family man by all accounts, and was proud of his only son, Luke.
But today, I feel compelled to comment because little Luke or little Russ, not to be confused with Big Russ, was offered a job at NBC as a convention correspondent, meaning he will go to both the DNC and RNC conventions and report on youth oriented issues. Luke Russert is a 22 year old graduate of Boston University with a degree in history and communications and has some broadcast experience as a co-host of an XM satellite radio sports talk show. From what I can gather, he has never officially commented on political issues on television, written op/ed pieces, or even jumped into the blogsphere to cut his teeth on political issues with people other than his father and mother, magazine writer Maureen Orth. I am positive that I can find at least 50 or more qualified 20-34 year olds who can report from the political conventions for NBC who have more experience than Luke Russert has.
At the same time, I wonder how networks like NBC, CBS, and ABC will adapt to the growing Latino populations and if these traditional networks really care to diversify their ranks of reporters. By 2050, the non-Hispanic white population will be a minority comprising 47% of the population if current projects become a reality. In 2007, the Hispanic population had a median age of 27.6, while the population as a whole had a median age of 36.6. Over a third of the Hispanic population is under the age of 18. The black and Asian populations are also growing in America. Luke Russert’s face is not representative of what America is going to look like, yet with little real world experience, he is given the ultimate sympathy gift for his father’s death, a coveted correspondent job at NBC. If this isn’t white privilege, then I don’t know what is.
I’m not the only one in the Latino blogsphere who is bothered by NBC’s decision to hire Luke Russert. The Adventures of the Coconut Caucus points out that the Unity 2008 Conference, representing journalists of color, that was just held in Chicago probably could have provided more qualified journalists to take the position that was handed to little Luke Russert. I actually spoke with a journalist attending Unity last week and was told that many of his colleagues had been handed their walking papers, as many newspapers are laying off journalists as the economy tailspins and the media adapts to new technologies.
On a more positive note, I’m glad that the blogsphere exists for people like me, who aren’t represented in the traditional media. I’m even less inclined to turn on the tube for my news these days, as I feel better informed picking my news from an array of sources such as NPR, satellite radio, the blogsphere, alternative weekly papers, and a variety of on-line newspapers. TV viewers are getting older, as the younger generation has discovered other ways to entertain and inform itself.
The traditional media does a poor job of representing people like me and the issues that I care about, but there are a few outlets for aspiring young, minority journalists who want to become convention correspondents. SiTV held the Crash the Parties contest, where two young Latinos were chosen to report from the political party conventions this season. I hope that there will be more opportunities like this for young political pundits of color who don’t have mommies and daddies working for big networks and high dollar magazines to get them into the business without having to earn the opportunity.
Photo Credit: Evan Agostini / Getty Images file via MSNBC
12 responses so far ↓
1 BettyM // Aug 1, 2008 at 12:27 pm
The “old boy network” and “it’s not what you know but who you know” prevail. Thank you for suggesting alternative sources – maybe we’d all learn more if we watched a little less TV.
2 jammer // Aug 1, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Don’t bet on the networks learning anything. They are still the ultimate old boys network and Latinos have never been part of the old boys network. It would be interesting to see and hear a Latino’s perspective from the conventions, except it would be one sided. I have a hard time finding faces that look like mine at the Republican convention.
3 Michaelr // Aug 1, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Don’t tell me you’re surprised? This is what it means to be a WASP. If you simply apply yourself the world is your oyster. The same rules that applied to career opportunities 45 years ago, still apply today. And if you aren’t 300 times smarter than that white boy you’re competing with for that job, you are not going to get that job. Higher education is the great equalizer, but sometimes even that doesn’t level the playing field. To find some level of parity, you should look into the Information Technology industry. Brains are more cherished in that industry than what your ethnicity is, and it’s a safe bet your father is not in that business.
4 theKaiser // Aug 1, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Don’t get me started…all this reeks of our reality and the hill we all have to climb. More truth that reality is a great eye opener.
5 Kage // Aug 1, 2008 at 11:58 pm
“If this isn’t white privilege, then I don’t know what is.”
I was searching to see if anyone else was disgusted by the hiring of Luke Russert and found this post only to learn that apparently I shouldn’t be upset because it’s some kind of white thing. You can’t really think this is typical of the white experience, can you? Because I can guarantee you that it’s not. My family certainly didn’t catch such a deal when my dad died. This is actually about class advantage and the utter self-absorption of the media elite; they’d be about as eager to give me this break as they would you. Honest to God, the fact that the beneficiary of this absurd nepotism is white doesn’t do anything to improve my life. I’m saddened to get the impression that you can’t imagine we might have a grievance in common here.
6 webmaster // Aug 2, 2008 at 8:02 am
Kage, the hiring of Luke Russert is more than a “white thing.” You are correct in that class advantage and self-absorption are big factors as well. In ethnic environments, we have come to see white as being equal to privilege in many cases because of racial profiling, the lack of minority faces in film and television, etc.
We most definitely have a grievance in common here, but I will stand by my statement that white privilege is at work because Luke enjoys certain advantages simply by showing his white face that some other Americans of color will never have no matter how much money and status we may achieve.
I’m glad that you too are bothered by this stunt that NBC decided to pull.
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8 Kage // Aug 2, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Thanks for the reply! We seem to be in the same ballpark on this. I’d argue that being white doesn’t really matter here (when you get to call Brokaw “Uncle Tom” your color is beside the point) but on the other hand I admit it’s completely unsurprising that the kid in a position to win this special treatment is white rather than minority.
I think it’s the use of “privelege” rather than, say, “advantage” that hits my buttons. I think it’s that I can see the idea of any given white having an advantage when all else is equal but I can’t go so far as to say we’re all priveleged. It’s interesting, I’ll have to think on that.
Now if only I’d BEEN watching NBC news so I could stop now! Thanks for the interaction, I appreciate it.
9 DoctorH // Aug 2, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Tim Russert had numerous opportunities to question Dick Cheney and ask him the $66,000.00 question. However, he always cowered up to Dick Cheney and usually ended the interview by kissing his ring. Tim Russert’s performance at the Scooter Libby trial didn’t score any points regarding his journalistic integrity. In fact, that performance probably displayed what is really suspect about Network television news media today. Ed Morrow would easily see all this for what it is. CBS News had a lot to do with ending the war in Vietnam, and assisting the Civil Rights Movement. Now the Network Television News is definitely part of the Federal government’s propaganda war machine. And I guarantee you the likes of Luke Russert will never see Iraq.
10 Francis L. Holland // Aug 6, 2008 at 3:37 am
As soon as Russert died, I began wondering what white man they would find to replace him.
Like many of the people being considered for vice presidential candidate, their primary qualification relative to others is that they are white men. Others have more experience, more name recognition and have done far more in their careers, but because they are not white men they will not be considered.
For example, if Obama picks some stiff like Dodd or Biden for his running mate, then he’ll get the same result that Dukakis got when he picked Bentsen for his running mate.
Why not Bill Richardson, whose resume stretches to the moon and back and has more foreign policy experience than actually working with foreign leaders than any of the rest?
Oh, whatever will America think when they focus on the fact that he has a Latin American mother? There’s a maximum quota on minorities on the presidential ticket right, although there is no maximum quota on white men.
Color-arousal makes people stupid.
11 Michaelr // Aug 6, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I would love to see Bill Richardson as Obama’s running mate. In a colorblind world that would be a perfect partnership to lead the U.S. back from this economic abyss. But that would be too much color on one ticket for white voters in the Bible Belt, the Rust Belt, and Utah, Arizona, and Idaho to stomach. And Obama still needs a substantial amount of those White votes to win the election. Racism is alive and well in America, and even though lots of voters in those places haven’t figured out that Bill Richardson is half Mexican (because of his last name) the GOP will surely make that fact loud and negative once he gets on the ticket. I am sure Bill Richardson has already been penciled in as a Cabinet member, probably Secretary of State. This tells you how special Barack Obama is…to be so close to the prize when so much is working against him. All one has to do is watch a newscast from FOX News, listen to Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, and Anne Coulter, to see how ugly the racial rhetoric is at this time in America. It’s those enlightened White men in Obama’s inner circle, who have guided him to the doorstep of America’s highest office. Hopefully, he will reside in the White House come January.
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