UPDATE 3-U.S. TV newsman Tim Russert dies of heart attack

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By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - Tim Russert, who became a household name in American political discourse as host of NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday talk show, died on the job of a heart attack on Friday, the television network said. He was 58.

NBC interrupted its programming for a special report by former anchorman Tom Brokaw, who announced in a voice heavy with emotion that Russert had died at the network's Washington bureau after returning from a trip to Italy with his family.

Russert was prerecording a segment for this Sunday's "Meet the Press" program when he collapsed.

"I think I can invoke personal privilege to say this news division will not be the same without his strong, clear voice. He will be missed as he was loved, greatly," Brokaw said.

Russert was the NBC News Washington bureau chief as well as a political analyst for "NBC Nightly News" and the "Today" morning program. He also anchored "The Tim Russert Show," a weekly interview program on the CNBC cable-TV channel.

"Here was a guy who, in a really affable way, was able to do something that news anchors don't really do: provide cogent, understandable, compelling analysis of really complex issues," said Syracuse University media expert Robert Thompson.

It was as host of "Meet the Press" since 1991 that Russert became a leading voice in American politics by mixing his cheerful on-air persona with the tough questioning of political guests including President George W. Bush and leading personalities of the 2008 presidential campaign.

"This was one of the most important years in Tim's life," Brokaw told viewers. "He loved this political campaign. He worked to the point of exhaustion so many weeks."

News of Russert's death brought an outpouring of praise from political figures including Bush and the two main candidates in the November election -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

'AN INSTITUTION'

"He was an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades," Bush said in a statement issued in Paris, where the president was traveling.

"Tim was a tough and hard-working newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it."

Russert was also a best-selling author. "Big Russ and Me," described his childhood in Buffalo, New York, and his relationship with his father, who worked as a garbage collector. He also wrote "The Wisdom of Our Fathers," inspired by letters he received from children talking about their relationship with their fathers.

Democrats and Republicans lauded Russert's work.