Tim Russert collapsed in the newsroom of the NBC Washington D.C. bureau after taping a segment for his show, "Meet the Press."

This was a very unfortunate death for his viewers and for fellow journalists who admired his work. MSNBC aired Russert's memorial service at the Kennedy Center, and a week after his death continued to do stories about his life.

Some media outlets devoted entire newscasts to honoring Russert.

The question remains, did the media go overboard in their coverage?Jack Schaefer wrote an editorial on Slate.com titled the Canonization of Saint Tim Russert.

"I wonder whether the media grievers gave a moment of thought to how this Russert torrent they produced played with viewers and readers. Did the grievers really think Russert was so important, so vital to the nation's course, and such an elevated human being that he deserved hour upon hour of tribute? I wonder whether any of the responsible journalists paused to think, Hey, this is really weird. We're using our unchecked editorial power to soak the nation with our tears about our friend, and that's unseemly! "

"I do think that there was a lot of coverage of his passing than there probably should have been," said MU Journalism Professor Earnest Perry. "But we are in a 24/7 news cycle. We have cable television which he was a part of the MSNBC operation. They have a lot of time to fill and he filled a huge gap of that. There are people that he worked with and worked for him that had a strong attachment."

"Was Tim Russert important to the body politic?" said MU Journalism Professor Lee Wilkins. "Yes I think so. Did he show we journalists how to do our jobs extremely well? Did he set a high standard that he himself met? Yes I think so. Did I watch Meet the Press on Sunday mornings? You bet. So in that sense yeah the folks that are saying, Well he is as important as a president, well no, but as a representative of the media as an institution...yeah it is important."

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