(NNPA)—The National Urban League and Black America lost a dear friend earlier this month. Tim Russert was not only a master newsman and commentator, he was one of the rare leaders in media who never feared to ask or answer the tough question.

For Russert, honesty and fairness were non-negotiable. I saw that firsthand when he asked me to join a racially and ideologically diverse “Meet the Press” panel Sept. 4, 2005 where we discussed the tragedy and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Russert did what few others dared do in those early days of the recovery, he encouraged us to discuss the impact that race may have played in the government’s inexcusably delayed reaction. It was a very necessary and emotional debate that I believe helped spur the public demand for a more urgent and effective government response.

In 2006, the National Urban League issued a report, entitled “Sunday Morning Apartheid: A Diversity Study of the Sunday Morning Talk Shows,” which showed that less than 40 percent of Sunday morning political talk shows featured Black guests, and that only 20 percent of the broadcasts contained interviews with African-Americans. After releasing the report, we requested meetings with all the Sunday morning executive producers to talk about our findings and the producer of “Meet the Press” was the first to respond.

When we walked into the meeting we were surprised to see not only the executive producer, but also the show’s long-time moderator, Tim Russert. Russert got it.

He understood that diversity in programming is not important purely for diversity’s sake. Russert knew that a broader pool of guests improves the tenor and quality of debate, offers a richer and more varied array of information and helps fulfill news outlets’ responsibility to educate their audiences so they will be better equipped to make informed political and policy choices.

Tim Russert had not only read our report, but admitted that “Meet the Press” and other shows needed to do better. The producers and he then placed several Black commentators on the show’s roster including Eugene Robinson, Gwen Ifill and Michele Norris—giving “Meet the Press” the deepest pool of Black commentators of any Sunday morning show.

Since the release of our original study, the overall trend is inching toward greater inclusion. While White males still dominate the Sunday morning talk shows, there are more women and African-Americans in front of the camera, too.

As the 2008 presidential campaign, with its first-ever African-American candidate, kicks into high gear, we know that the issue of race will be unavoidable. In order for that discussion to be meaningful, it must include perspectives from African-American citizens and commentators alike.

The National Urban League will continue to monitor and document progress by the networks. We are grateful that Tim Russert stood by us and with us in this important fight. We will miss him.

(Marc Morial is president/CEO of the National Urban League.)