I don't watch TV news and so I just assumed that the brouhaha over Tim Russet's passing was due to the fact that he was a journalist among among pundits. Its amazing what we will assume just because someone is frumpy-looking:

"... he was their link to real journalism, which anchors and pundits don't do. And neither did Tim. He began as a political flunky for elected officials, moved to TV management, then to hosting Meet the Press. No reporting, nowhere. But he looked like a news hound and acted as if that was his métier, like a fish in water. He could've played Hildy Johnson, ace reporter, in the 1928 play, The Front Page. Walter Matthau, who was Hildy in the movie, could've played Tim. Guys who stand in for real people, with real faces, even though they lead Olympian lives." [rick salutin - globe and mail]

I've got to figure out how to make my frumpiness work for me.