Today on Meet the Press

NBC is doing a retrospective of the late Tim Russert's career. A few cynics out there are implying that more than a few of the NBC reporters or anchors or squawking heads are shedding tears for Russert so they can be considered for his job. Well, that may be true.

Questions have been raised in the past about the utter corruption between the media and the political elite. It's not just with John McCain and the media; there are questions about why political operatives, which Tim Russert was one, were allowed to be heavily involved in shaping--not reporting, shaping--the news, which these public affairs shows tend to do. These programs are all about newsmakers, and these shows can make or break them. This was especially true with Tim Russert and Meet the Press. Russert wasn't the only operative, either. Chris Matthews was one, George Stephanopoulos was one, Joe Scarborough was an elected official, and so on. None of them truly qualify as journalists, certainly not compared with those hosting such public affairs programs in the past. And they aren't alone; cable channels especially constantly have guests on their shows who are political operatives who help to shape the news. In other words, where does news end and political opinion and propaganda begin?

Who will end up taking over Russert's job? Will it be somebody who might be a duller host but is actually a qualified journalist? Or will it be somebody like former operative Chris Matthews or former sportscaster Keith Olbermann, who aren't really qualified to host such a program, but they both have star power and name recognition and may help NBC's ratings?