Rieder: David Carr death latest shocker for journalism

The death at 58 Thursday night of David Carr, the fine media columnist for The New York Times, comes as a total shock — and the latest tumultuous event in an astonishing week in journalism.

The story of Carr — who died after collapsing in the Times newsroom — was extraordinary and inspirational, the saga of a man who overcame crack cocaine addiction — and bravely and candidly wrote about it — and against all odds became a pillar at the nation's leading news organization.

Carr's commentary was must reading for anyone who cared about developments in the fast-evolving media world. And his offbeat persona worked very well in the documentary Page One: Inside The New York Times.

I loved the moment when he described his young, very young, media writing colleague Brian Stelter, now host of CNN's Reliable Sources, as a robot assembled in the basement of The New York Times to take his job.

With his impish manner and whatever you call the opposite of the dress for success look, not to mention his sketchy past, Carr was the antithesis of the stereotypical Timesman. But his commitment to his craft and his passion for his field were obvious — and impressive.

Carr's death comes just one day after the death of Bob Simon, an extraordinarily successful CBS correspondent, at 73. Simon, who had braved the world's danger zones for decades, died in a car accident in Manhattan.

Earlier in the week, the media world was rocked by the news that Jon Stewart, the gifted host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, was stepping down by the end of the year. And NBC News suspended star anchor Brian Williams without pay for six months for exaggerating his exploits while covering the war in Iraq.