(by Dan 'Monty' Montalto)

Earlier this afternoon as the newsroom was buzzing over the R. Kelly verdict, Stephen Totilo, our resident video game expert, came over and asked, "Did you guys hear that Tim Russert died?" Even in the midst of one of our biggest stories this year, everyone within earshot immediately began Googling, channel surfing and checking every reliable news source for more information, hoping that it was an erroneous report.

Then, at about 3:40 p.m., Tom Brokaw, his voice shaking with grief, appeared on MSNBC to announce the loss of the host of NBC's "Meet the Press" and one of political journalism's most authoritative voices. Here in the newsroom a crowd gathered around one of the TVs, totally shocked and saddened by the loss of a giant in the field of journalism. Especially in this election year, Tim had become such a familiar and comforting face in helping us and millions across the country to make sense of the madness that is U.S. electoral politics.
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