Point taken. While Tim Russert was fantastic, I suppose the press wasn't exactly objective in weighing the significance of his death relative to other news, as well as the obit coverage of other accomplished leaders in other fields...

Quoted: I have nothing against Tim Russert. He hosted two decent programs, Meet the Press and the less-watched Tim Russert, and ably helmed NBC News' Washington bureau. According to his colleagues and competitors, he was a conscientious journalist and a fine leader.

Oh my god, no way! This seems to have come out of nowhere. So sad, I really loved his work.

Quoted: Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after a sudden heart attack. He was 58.

This article is right - the loss of classifieds is what's sunk newspapers, and the Craigslist model isn't easy to copy. But I'm uneasy with the idea of a corporate "savior" like Wal-Mart when we're supposed to have a free press.

Quoted: Wal-Mart doesn't know it yet, but it may be the savior that local newspapers have been praying for. The big-box retailer launched a new service last month and dubbed it Wal-Mart Classifieds.

I never realized he had made this prediction. Well, looks like he was onto something.

Quoted: In 1993, novelist Michael Crichton riled the news business with a Wired magazine essay titled " Mediasaurus," in which he prophesied the death of the mass media—specifically the New York Times and the commercial networks. "Vanished, without a trace," he wrote.

A great slide show of journalists at work recognizing World Press Freedom Day.

Quoted: In recognition of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Magnum celebrates the importance of freedom of the press and recognizes the dangers to journalists around the world.

Jack Shafer takes the position that there's actually a silver lining in the newsroom buyouts - younger, newer blood comes into the field. But that's only true if the publications stay afloat long enough to hire new full-timers!

Quoted: Advertising revenue at newspapers has fallen off a cliff. Average circulation is down, too, and the combined trends are prompting publications to say goodbye with a wad of cash to their most experienced and decorated hands. Yet, good news can be found inside the bad news.

Oh no, I wanted this piece to be true so badly! Guess it just goes to show you should take everything you hear with a grain of salt...

Quoted: The journalism of New Yorker staff writer Malcolm Gladwell has attracted millions of readers. Public radio's 'This American Life' heard a recording of a Gladwell talk and approached him for permission to air it. At its conclusion, 'This American Life' host Ira Glass identifies The Moth as a place where "people come to tell both true stories and occasional tall tales." Which is Gladwell telling?

Important for any of you who have to talk to the press. Once a journalist has AGREED that a conversation is off the record, then it is unethical for them to use anything said after that point. However, if there is no such agreement, it's fair game.

Quoted: Samantha Power stepped down from her position as Barack Obama's foreign-policy adviser Friday, after she was quoted in the Scotsman calling Hillary Clinton " a monster, too—that is off the record—she is stooping to anything." How do you go off the record with a journalist?

I agree - plagiarism blows!

Quoted: Readers have stormed my inbox, accusing me of "picking nits" in the latest of my two columns about the plagiarism of New York Times reporter Alexei Barrionuevo ( Feb. 27 and March 5). One reader found my charge "hyperactive."