Even as digital new media continues to encroach on mainstream media – suffocating publishing revenues and weakening broadcast and cable TV ratings – last week’s highly unprecedented media spectacle offered a powerful lesson about the strength of tradition. Never before has a deceased journalist been as publicly memorialized as was NBC News’ Tim Russert the past 10 days.  From momentous Meet the Press interrogations to using a dry white eraser board for a brilliantly simple explanation of Election night 2000 Electoral math, Russert left digital competitors a sobering gauntlet as described by journalist Al Hunt.

“At a time when our news business, newspapers and television, is struggling, trying to discover new formulas, panaceas, more edge, techno glitz, Tim turned to the oldest virtues and verities in the profession: preparation, integrity, fairness, accountability, chalkboards, tough but civil, and an enormous respect for his viewers and the noble calling of politics. He made it informative, interesting, compelling.”

Certainly in terms of quantity, Russert could not compete with the seemingly space unlimited political blogs such as the incomparable Daily Kos.  Yet it is not countless long, long defunct Internet election pages, but Russert’s dry white eraser board (“Florida Florida Florida”) that is in a Smithsonian Museum.  TV Guide selected Russert’s use of the eraser board as one of the “100 Most Memorable TV Moments” in history. The Washington Post credits him with coining “red state” and “blue state” to describe the nation’s political divide.

In 1991, the year Russert took over Meet the Press, I returned to TV – nationally syndicated news – following a 15 year absence. Three years later I very prematurely traded traditional journalism for the digital media revolution.  Only now do I see revolution essentials taking shape, such as content digitalization, WiFi accessibility, and hand held devices including e-book readers. Yet last week’s somber events reminded me that digital new media’s fate lay not in our technology, but in ourselves.  The sparkling promise of the information age is currently marred by far too much unverifiable, often pointless content. A grand lesson we can take from last week’s memorials is a digital commitment to clarity, accountability, and toughness with civility.

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