In the days following “Meet the Press” moderator Tim Russert’s shocking death earlier this month dozens of national publications honored the TV politico with cover stories and touching tributes.
Noticeably missing from this mix was a legendary magazine that is devoted to Russert’s own medium—TV Guide.
Were you as shocked as I was that while publishing giants such as TIME, Newsweek, and PEOPLE ran lengthy tributes and placed Russert’s jovial face on the covers of their magazines TV Guide decided to place reality TV star Denise Richards on its cover.
And no, it wasn’t because editors didn’t have enough time to make a switch. Reports say TV Guide had ample opportunity to pay its respects to the veteran newsman, but deliberately chose to grace its cover with a woman who is famous for continually fighting with her ex-husband Charlie Sheen.
The sad fact is that while Russert, who was loved and respected by millions (for something other than a big bust and even bigger mouth), and celebrated by every major publication in the U.S., TV Guide gave Richards yet another venue to promote her idiotic reality TV show (which is, at least in my opinion, simply too painful to watch).
Frankly, I am appalled by TV Guide’s decision. I was a huge fan of the once pocket sized journal that is considered by some as a powerhouse in publishing. I started collecting TV Guides in the late 1970s when I was a young girl and kept boxes of them in my grandparents’ basement until I left for college.
I severed ties with the guide when no name geniuses at the company decided to make the publication as big as every other magazine. I can’t even look at TV Guide anymore. Have you seen the inside of the new editions? It’s like looking at a maze of schedules for ER doctors at a major hospital.
TV Guide’s new editor came to the magazine from Life & Style, one of the cheaper and more sensational of the celebrity supermarket tabloids—-which pretty much says it all.
By the way I heard that it was the new editor’s decision to put Richards on the cover, complete with teased hair and a revealing miniskirt with the headline that read: “Reality TV Attacks!”
Meanwhile, all the well-respected Russert got was a small online feature blurb and an even shorter “Cheers and Jeers” paragraph devoted to his funeral. On the cover of the print issue, there was a tiny tag line that read: “Tim Russert, We Miss You!”
Yeah, way to prove it.