The discussion 'Meet the Press: Tim Russert passes away has evolved from a memorial and retrospective about the individual's life and how they impacted the writer, into a question as to what his life meant as a journalist.
What is a journalist?
Is a journalist one that asks hard hitting questions thus creating the possibility of alienating the people he wants to interview? Or lobs soft simple questions wherein the interviewee feels comfortable to talk and talks a little here or there?