The sudden death last week of newsman Tim Russert gave decision makers in newspaper and television newsrooms across the country special cause to pause in considering their handling of the story.

Because Russert, 58, longtime host of the NBC Sunday morning news show “Meet the Press” was one of their own, most editors and producers probably realized that their organization’s credibility could be affected by how they played the news.

Overplay it and they might stand accused of treating a member of their profession better than they would a decedent of equal status in another profession. Underplay it and they might be judged to be cold, uncaring and lacking good news judgment. Get it just right and sleep well that night.

It was understandable that NBC would spare no effort in coverage of Russert’s passing. After all, the journalistic success story that “Meet the Press” had become was due in large part to his 16-plus years of hosting the show. Politicians and other dedicated social climbers who were asked to appear on his show had bragging rights for life, and rarely did they decline the opportunity. The man truly was good at what he did.

Still, I couldn’t have been the only Highly Trained Observer here in television’s vast wasteland who thought that the saturation NBC coverage, as well as that of some other television networks, was a bit over the top even for a person of Russert’s stature.

As Exhibit A in my defense as the potential wet blanket in the crowd, I offer two paragraphs taken from a follow-up Los Angeles Times news story in this newspaper a few days after Russert’s death:

“For three days, NBC News devoted its resources to memorializing him on the air. Within hours after Russert’s collapse at the network’s Washington bureau Friday, MSNBC turned over its programming to mourn him. [Tom] Brokaw anchored a one-hour special about him that night on NBC, and the coverage continued on NBC and MSNBC throughout the weekend.

“But it wasn’t just his employers that lionized Russert. CNN dedicated all of its Friday night programming and a good part of Sunday to memorializing him, coverage more associated with the death of a president than of a television journalist.”

As well, NBC rival CBS made the Russert death the lead story on its evening newscast the day he died, relegating to second place the unfolding tragedy concerning the massive flooding in Iowa and the thousands of people whose lives had been wrecked when the floods left them homeless and hopeless. On the grounds that the floods had affected more people more severely than did the Russert death, I had made a bet with myself that the Iowa story would lead the CBS newscast. I lost.

One can fairly imagine the veteran newsman Russert – skittish at the thought of becoming the story – cringing at such extensive coverage in his behalf.

Admittedly not exactly an unbiased reader, I believe the Bangor Daily News played the Russert story filed by The Associated Press about right: Lower right-hand corner of Page 1, under a two-column headline – 5 inches of copy and a small photo of Russert on Page One, and a 22-inch jump to Page A9.

BDN Managing Editor Mike Dowd said editors had discussed at some length whether the story merited placement on Page One. The newspaper’s guideline in respect to Page 1 coverage of celebrity deaths essentially states that the deceased must have been a well-known public figure of long standing.

“I would describe it as a sort of borderline case,” Dowd said in a telephone interview Thursday. “But what tipped it for us was that he [Russert] had been extremely visible for more than 16 years as host of a show that has been a part of the American media landscape for a long time.” There was never any question that if the AP story were to run on Page 1 it would be below the fold, he said.

The Portland Press-Herald ran a one-column story, with photo, beginning on Page 1 above the fold. The Lewiston, Waterville and Augusta dailies placed the story inside, although each newspaper ran a picture of Russert in the Page 1 index box, directing readers to the story in their A sections.

Some former ink-stained editors I have known would likely have opted for a conservative approach in playing the story, and their old-school logic would have been compelling: If you give a sendoff befitting a president or pope in such a case, what do you then do should a president or a pope pass on?

Good question.

BDN columnist Kent Ward lives in Limestone. Readers may reach him by e-mail at olddawg@bangordailynews.net.