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June 13 (Bloomberg) — Tim Russert, NBC News's Washington bureau chief who was renowned for his tough questioning of politicians, died after collapsing at work today. He was 58.
Russert became famous for his relentless probing on the Sunday morning talk show “Meet the Press,'' a program he hosted longer than anyone else, according to former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. Russert was also a best-selling author whose books included a tribute to his father, “Big Russ and Me.''
Brokaw announced the death on the air, telling viewers about Russert's childhood growing up in Buffalo, New York, his love for his family and his work ethic. Brokaw said Russert was “one of the premier political analysts and journalists of his time'' and a beloved colleague.
“This news division will not be the same without his strong, clear voice,'' Brokaw said.
The doctor who treated Russert said the cause of death couldn't immediately be determined after initial reports of a heart attack, NBC said.
Russert set the “gold standard'' for moving from politics to journalism, said Albert Hunt, executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg News and a close friend. Before becoming a journalist, Russert worked as an aide to former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from 1977 to 1982 and then worked for former New York Governor Mario Cuomo in Albany for two years.
When Russert worked for Moynihan during the New York Democrat's 1982 re-election campaign, his research showed that Republican opponent Bruce Caputo's claims of Vietnam service were false. Caputo dropped out of the race.
“It was one of the most important moments in my life,'' Russert told the Washington Post in 1989, describing his research at the New York Public Library. “It was investigative reporting at its best.''
Russert took over as anchor of “Meet the Press'' on Dec. 8, 1991, and turned the show into the most-watched Sunday morning interview program in the U.S. and the most-quoted news program in the world, according to the network's Web site.

bloomberg.com

Rainn Wilson isn’t peculiar, he’s just drawn that way.
The career character actor who has made a kind of pop-cultural antihero out of seriously deranged office worker Dwight Schrute — love that name — in The Office has an oddball, oddly wry sense of humour, as he showed in a recent conference call with reporters.
Rainn Wilson used to blog as Dwight Schrute in his off-time, but that caughtup to him at the beginning of this strike-interrupted season.
“I loved writing them,” Wilson said. “I passed the torch to one of the writers this year — I was getting just too busy and had too much on my plate — but it was really fun. I think it became the first Schrute space [on MySpace]. I think I was the first person to ever blog a character from a TV show.
A blog is the perfect outlet for Dwight, Wilson insisted.
“Blogs are the first terrible creation of the 21st century. People write about what movies they rented and what happened when they went to the drycleaners. And I think Dwight just loves to hold forth with a captive audience. Blogging is a perfect extension of the character.”
Wilson’s image — or, more fairly, Dwight’s image — is now one of the best-selling bobbleheads in bobblehead history. Not that anyone keeps careful track of such statistics.
“I walked by the NBC store in Nw York and there’s a wall of Dwight bobbleheads in the windows. It’s the number one selling thing in the history of NBC Universal merchandising. It’s crazy. I feel like Mr. Potato Head.
“In future I’ll be known not for the character of Dwight but for the bobblehead. In the far future, like 10,000 years from now, some archeologist will uncover Dwight bobbleheads and think that I was a great leader of men.”

communities.canada.com

For NBC, putting Kathie Lee Gifford back on television apparently was more important than figuring out why.
So there she was Monday morning, beaming as brightly as her yellow slicker while she co-hosted the revamped fourth hour of NBC’s “Today Show” with Hoda Kotb.
The “why” is still being worked out.
The show’s timeslot and tone suggest it would like to become a bridge between Kathie Lee’s old teammate Regis Philbin, who now partners with Kelly Ripa, and “The View.”
Accordingly, it had generous elements of both those well-established institutions.
Gifford and Kotb started the show with a long complimentary schmooze, bravely ignoring the raw April day around them.
They had the can’t-miss “diet success story,” bringing in a feel-good civilian guest who gave up Snickers bars and lost 110 pounds.
They had a famous guest, in this case Harvey Fierstein, over whom they could not fawn enough.
Then, perhaps to give the show a shot of action, they brought in a team of gymnasts wearing “anti-gravity” boots that turn them into human pogo sticks.
The point of this wasn’t clear until Kathie Lee and Hoda strapped on the boots themselves - and became even less clear when the hosts barely stand up while wearing them.
It wasn’t what you’d call a “killer” segment.
In the broader scope, the whole show felt like we were watching musicians learning to play the guitar as the song went along.
A bear hug at the end couldn’t disguise the fact Hoda and Kathie Lee just met a few days ago, and their conversation sounds like it.
Dressing the adoring audience in yellow and orange shirts gives the production a colorful look that should be enhanced when the sun comes out, and the show is grounded in elements that are proven winners - including, not least of all, Kathie Lee’s name.

nydailynews.com

Generosity book rockets to 300,000 copies as churches order copy for every family. Translations underway in 40 foreign languages worldwide. Story picked up by NBC TV, CBN TV, newspapers, magazines, and national radio.
Colorado Springs, CO (PRWEB) February 26, 2008 — A small 90-page book on how to lead a more generous life by a church giving expert is something of a "publishing miracle" that is being used by churches across the United States and around the world to inspire greater generosity and increase giving. Kluth is a recognized worlwide authority and media expert on church and charitable giving, philanthropy, tithing, and generosity.
In order to keep up with the increasing demand, 300,000 copies of the "A 40-day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life" have been printed in the first year and a half. Churches of all sizes from over 60 denominations have ordered copies by the hundreds and thousands.
The story of this booklet has even caught the attention of the media with news stories on NBC TV evening news in Colorado, a live interview on CBN TV news and talk show, a front page story in the Colorado Springs Gazette life section, a one hour live interview on Moody Radio's "Open Line", The Christian Post (as a top story), United Press International, USA Religious News, Christian Newswire, Google News, Yahoo News and MSNBC News.
In addition to the attention the booklet is receiving in the USA, requests have come in from around the world to translate the booklets into other languages. Translations are currently underway in 40 foreign languages for distribution in more than 60 countries. In Latin America, Crown Financial Ministries will promote and distribute this book in every country.
Kluth said that several publishers had declined to publish the booklet because they said there was no market for a book on generosity. He shared, "My wife and I used inheritance money to produce and print 15,000 copies that we thought it would take years to distribute. But in the first 18 months we needed to print 300,000 copies to keep up with the growing number of orders coming in every week."
The "Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life" book takes people through 40 daily Bible readings that help them understand what the Bible teaches about managing their finances. "Years ago I was in debt and had financial problems. As I learned what the Bible teaches about money, God helped me completely turn around my finances and gave me the freedom to live more generously. I am grateful that so many other people can benefit from the things I learned," said Kluth.
Kluth reports that after bank failures in Mongolia, the largest church in the country translated the booklet and gave it to their 1,100 church members. "Over the next two months we saw offerings increase nearly 60 percent," the Executive Pastor emailed to Kluth. In Kluth's own church, offerings increased over 40% after the use of the book with his congregation.
Brian Kluth is a pastor, author, speaker, founder of www.MAXIMUMgenerosity.org, and TV, radio, newspaper media expert on generosity, philanthropy, charitable and church giving, and donations to religious causes. His generosity resources are used across the US and around the world by by mainline, Catholic, orthodox, and evangelical congregations to inspire generosity and increase giving. Last year Kluth was honored by the Christian Stewardship Association with the Outstanding Stewardship Educator of the year award.
Kluth's websites can be accessed at www.MAXIMUMgenerosity.org and www.GenerousLife.info. For a free media review copy of the Generous Life book, email your name, media connection, phone, and address to: ship @ kluth.org.

prweb.com