When news broke Saturday evening that John McCain had died, it felt like the climax of a slow-motion eulogy that had been steadily playing out since the Arizona Senator announced his brain cancer diagnosis last summer. His obituary appeared on Sunday front pages of local and national newspapers, and coverage of his life and work dominated television broadcast for much of the weekend.
McCainâs five decades in public serviceâfrom prisoner of war to the cusp of the presidencyâprovided enough accomplishments, commendations, and contradictions to challenge any journalist attempting to sum up his life. His New York Times obit ran to more than 6,000 words. In the months leading up to his death, the gravity of his condition provided for a rare sort of memorializing, with a final memoir, numerous interviews, documentaries, and appreciations rolling in over the past year.
Though McCain could be prickly with the press, journalists remembered him as a lawmaker who was generous with his time, respectful of the mediaâs role, and possessor of a surprising sense of humor. His six terms in the Senate meant that McCain was a constant presence for the vast majority of national politics reporters. âI want to say thank you, John McCain,â CNNâs Dana Bash said in a tribute over the weekend. âThank you for teaching reporters like me, who followed you around for a living, how to be serious, without taking ourselves too seriously.â
RELATED: The complicated task of covering John McCainâs final days
As the press came under attack by President Trump, McCain directly challenged the leader of his own party, defending the media in a Washington Post op-ed. âJournalists play a major role in the promotion and protection of democracy and our unalienable rights, and they must be able to do their jobs freely,â he wrote in January.
The press largely returned McCainâs love, often holding him up as the standard bearer for all that is decent and noble in American politics. This depiction, which at times verged on hagiography, glossed over some of McCainâs missteps and contradictions, even thoseâsuch as the choice of Sarah Palin to be his 2008 running mateâfor which McCain later expressed regret.
The evaluations of McCainâs legacy will continue this week and beyond, but itâs undeniable that he held a unique position in American politics. When The New York Timesâs Sheryl Gay Stolberg asked him in 2015 what he wanted written on his tombstone, McCain responded, âHe served his country.â
Below, more on John McCain and the press.
- McCain and the media: The Washington Postâs Callum Borchers examines, âA near-constant in John McCainâs career: His knack with the media.â
- Obits: The Arizona Republicâs Dan Nowicki remembered McCain as an âAmerican âmaverickâ and Arizona political giant.â The Washington Postâs Karen Tumulty wrote: âA man who seemed his truest self when outraged, Sen. McCain reveled in going up against orthodoxy.â
- Legacy: The New York Timesâs Carl Hulse writes that McCain was the âlast lionâ of the Senate. âHe is gone, leaving behind a storied life and a tear in Americaâs political fabric at a time when national unityâalways a McCain theme and ultimate goalâseems especially elusive.â
- Trumpâs statement: President Trump, who criticized McCain throughout the 2016 campaign and into his time in office, nixed a White House statement praising McCain, opting for a brief tweet instead, reports The Washington Postâs Josh Dawsey.
Other notable stories
- A gunman at a video game tournament in Jacksonville killed two people and wounded nine more before taking his own life. The event was being livestreamed as the shooting began, and a red laser dot was visible on one of the playerâs chests just before shots rang out. CJRâs Sam Thielman tweeted that the moment was âsome kind of uniquely technologized horror that I donât think Iâd ever witnessed before today.â
- I really liked this pieceâHuffPost used last Tuesdayâs news barrage to examine how Americans consume information. In conjunction with YouGov, HuffPost asked 1,000 people, âIn your own words, please describe what you would say happened in the news on Tuesday.â The topline numbers arenât shocking, but itâs worth reading the individual responses to get a sense of varying media diets.
- The Washington Postâs Margaret Sullivan notes the irony of the relationship between President Trump and the National Enquirer. âThe National Enquirer, under David Pecker, did everything it could to put Donald Trump in the White House,â she writes. âAnd it is now inseparable from the legal and political troubles that may send him packing.â
- In an âamicableâ decision that was âa long time coming,â Jemele Hill will leave ESPN at the end of the month, reports James Andrew Miller. Hillâs departure comes as new ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro has stressed that the company will avoid dabbling in politics as it focuses on sports content.
- CJRâs Mathew Ingram writes that Facebook and Google risk legitimizing Chinaâs surveillance practicesâand encouraging other countries to adopt similar policiesâif the tech giants agree to government demands for censorship and data-sharing.
ICYMI: Trumpâs media protector turns
Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon.