Russert, a political junkie and NBC News jack of all trades who helped turn the network’s “Meet the Press” into the dominant Sunday talk show, thrived during election years, pulling out his little white erase board and offering some of the sagest handicapping available on television.

Just days after Barack Obama clinched his historic Democratic presidential nomination in early June, however, Russert died of a heart attack at age 58.

The outpouring of sympathy and respect, from both sides of the aisle, was both surprising and heartening in an era of highly charged cable news commentary, where journalists are regarded with more and more wariness.

Despite his early career as a Democratic operative, Russert remained stubbornly independent when he took over “Press” in 1990.

It was why people liked him, and why “Press” thumped its rivals for years on end, its decade-worth of dominance credited to Russert, who also served as NBC’s Washington bureau chief, and the strong slate of guests he managed to attract.

Russert’s death also sparked off one of the year’s biggest media debates, on who would succeed him in the “Press” anchor chair. Earlier this month, NBC settled on longtime White House correspondent David Gregory, who took over for interim “Press” anchor Tom Brokaw.

Whether Gregory can maintain “Press’” big ratings and big guest gets remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: Russert would have loved to have finished covering this election, and his absence was felt not just by NBC but even by his competitors, who eulogized him eloquently after his death.

Said Bob Schieffer, host of CBS’s “Face the Nation,” “Tim was the best of our profession. He asked the best questions and then he listened for the answer. We became very close friends over the years. He delighted in scooping me and I felt the same way when I scooped him. When you slipped one past ol' Russert, you felt as though you had hit a home run off the best pitcher in the league.”

Here’s a look at some of the other media notables who died last year.

William F. Buckley
It only seems appropriate that the 82-year-old founder of the National Review died while sitting at his desk. William F. Buckley always seemed to be working, whether it was writing his column, novels, or speaking to groups around the country.

He was one of the strongest voices for conservative America and a frequent television and radio commentator. He died in February after suffering from diabetes and emphysema.

Clay Felker
Clay Felker was born into the sports business – his father worked for The Sporting News, and Felker himself worked on the creation of Sports Illustrated after covering athletics for Life. But he rose to fame as founder of New York magazine, which he once described as a magazine about “how the power game is played, and who are the winners.”

While Felker is best known for his time at New York, he also edited Esquire, the Village Voice and other publications. He died over the summer of natural causes at age 82.

Estelle Getty
One of the most powerhouse performers on television during the 1980s was also one of the smallest. Estelle Getty stood less than 5 feet tall and weighed maybe 95 pounds, but she held her own against comedic heavyweights Bea Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan on NBC’s long-running hit sitcom “The Golden Girls,” playing a feisty 80-something grandma.

Getty won two Emmys and became a pop culture icon on “Girls,” her first truly successful show after years in the business. Getty died in July at age 84 after suffering from dementia.

Bernie Mac
If Bill Cosby was the idealized dad, funny, kind and mildly exasperated, Bernie Mac was like your brusque but well-meaning uncle. He was straightforward, sometimes crude, but always honest. And it won him legions of fans, first as a stand-up comedian and later as one of the few black leading men on television in Fox’s “Bernie Mac Show.”

Mac also had a softer side that he sometimes displayed on screen, and he proved, two decades after Cosby, that shows about an African-American family can survive and even thrive on a Big Four network, though no one has picked up that mantle again since his show was canceled three years ago.

Mac died in August of complications from pneumonia at age 50.

Jim McKay
The legendary sportscaster got his start as a newspaper reporter in Baltimore, but it was as a TV sports reporter, and most famously a member of the team covering the tragic 1972 Munich Games, that Jim McKay made his name.

McKay covered 12 Olympics in total and served for four decades as an announcer on “Wide World of Sports.” He died in June at age 86 of natural causes, but his legacy lives on in television, where son Sean McManus heads up CBS Sports and CBS News.

Paw Paw
Sure, he was a dog, but to devotees of Martha Stewart’s many TV shows and magazines over the year, the 13-year-old chow Paw Paw was almost like part of a family, making regular appearances on television and in print. Stewart shared the sad news of his passing from renal failure last April with readers of her blog, who posted dozens of condolence messages.

Also dying in 2008:
Terry Armour, Chicago Tribune columnist, 46
Clive Barnes, former New York Post and Times theater critic, 81
Robert Bjarne Camfiord, former CBS News director, 77
Bernie Brillstein, manager and producer, 77
Michael Crichton, author and "ER" creator, 66
Myron Cope, Steelers radio announcer, 79
Bill Drake, radio consultant, 71
Richard J. Durrell, People founding publisher, 82
Terrence Elkes, former Viacom president, 73
Osborn Elliott, former Newsweek editor, 83
Mark Felt, Watergate's Deep Throat, 95
David Foster Wallace, novelist and essayist, 46
David Freeman, founder and director of The Disruption Consultancy at TBWA/Chiat/Day, 47
Otto Fuerbringer, former Time editor, 97
Mary Garber, sports journalism pioneer, 92
Beverly Garland, “My Three Sons” actress, 82
Robert W. Greene, former Newsday reporter and editor, 78
Gilbert A. Harrison, former New Republic publisher, 92
Isaac Hayes, singer and the voice of Chef on "South Park," 65
Eileen Herlie, "All My Children" actress, 90
Charlton Heston, actor and former SAG president, 84
Nancy Hicks Maynard, first black female New York Times metro reporter, 61
Stanley Kamel, "Monk" actor, 65
Eartha Kitt, singer/Catwoman on “Batman,” 81
Harvey Korman, "Carol Burnett" comedian, 81
Heath Ledger, actor, 28
John Leonard, former editor of The New York Times Book Review, 69
Dick Martin, "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" comedian, 86
Andrew J. McKelvey, Monster.com founder, 74
John McWethy, former ABC News correspondent, 61
Olivia Monjo, Home and Woman's Day Special Interest Publications editor, 54
Barry Morse, "The Fugitive" actor, 89
Bettie Page, Playboy pinup model, 85
Suzanne Pleshette, "Bob Newhart Show" actress, 70
Dith Pran, New York Times photojournalist, 65
Anne Pressly, Little Rock, Ark., TV news anchor, 26
George Putnam, radio host and TV news anchor, 94
Bill Reilly, Primedia founder, 70
Hal Riney, ad copywriter, 75
Ted Rogers Jr., founder of Rogers Communications, 75
Herb Score, longtime Cleveland Indians TV and radio broadcaster, 75
Leroy Sievers, former "Nightline" producer, 53
Tony Snow, ex-White House press secretary and Fox News personality, 53
Studs Terkel, author and radio host, 96
Ned S. Tolmach, advertising creative director at various agencies, 73
John Walter, former USA Today and Atlanta Journal-Constitution editor, 61