The Newseum’s newest exhibit will feature a re-creation of deceased “Meet the Press” Moderator Tim Russert’s office.
The exhibit will open to the public on Nov. 20 and will run through 2010.
Russert, who died in June 2008, exerted an influence that went beyond “Meet the Press,” according to Cathy Trost, director of exhibit development at the Newseum.
He was also the face of political news for NBC News and MSNBC, a moderator for many 2008 presidential election debates and a fixture on NBC’s election night coverage, Trost said.
“Clearly Tim Russert was one of the country’s most respected journalists,” she said. “He made ‘Meet the Press’ the most-watched Sunday morning talk show and he had a big impact on both politics and journalism.”
The Newseum assembled its collection of personal and professional Russert mementoes through donations and loans from NBC and Russert’s family, Trost said.
The office re-creation will show how Russert was always surrounded by his favorite books, family photos and sports memorabilia, she said.
“It really also showcases the fact that he had a wide array of interests, including religion and family, music, sports — beyond journalism and politics, so I think people will find it very interesting,” Trost said.
Out of the hundreds of artifacts collected for the reconstruction, Trost said one of her favorites is a sign that reads “Thou Shalt Not Whine.”
“I think it’s an interesting look at how his colleagues have said he didn’t like people who complained and [it’s] an interesting object that he kept in his office.”
Though the upcoming exhibit has not yet received much publicity, several people so far have written or called to say how excited they are about it, according to Trost.
“I think people are going to be very drawn to the exhibit,” she said. “It’s an intimate look at the office. It’s a very unpretentious office.”
Dylan Parker, a freshman in the School of Communication, said he likes the idea of the new Russert exhibit.
“It would be something that I would want to see,” Parker said. “I didn’t personally like Tim Russert; I wasn’t a huge fan of the way he presented news but he was definitely an iconic journalist and he definitely deserves a tribute, so I would definitely see it.”
Parker said while he enjoyed the Newseum when he went, the $20 admission fee would deter him from making too many trips back.
“I think it’s really interesting,” he said. “It’s in-depth; it kind of just shows more how the media affected the world, as opposed to just the media itself.”
Perri Haynes, another freshman in SOC, said she was a Russert fan and is glad the Newseum is commemorating his career.
“I really liked him,” Haynes said. “I thought when he died it was really sad; it was a really big loss in the news world. He was a really beloved character. He had such a big heart when it came to the news especially, and I don’t think he really projected any sort of major biases towards the news so much.”
In addition to the upcoming Russert exhibit, the Newseum is currently showing several other temporary exhibits. These include a showing of Sports Illustrated photographs, an exhibit about American presidents and their pets, an exhibit about the search for Abraham Lincoln’s killer and a display examining how Woodstock transformed journalism.
You can reach this staff writer at mkendall@theeagleonline.com.
