From a New York Times obit by Katharine Q. Seelye headlined “John DiStaso, Star Reporter of New Hampshire Primaries, Dies at 68”:

John DiStaso, a longtime New Hampshire political reporter who scrutinized a fresh crop of presidential candidates every four years, grilled them on the debate stage and analyzed their foibles and their prospects, died in Manchester, N.H.

Mr. DiStaso began his reporting career in 1980 with the New Hampshire Union Leader, the state’s largest newspaper. He was writing a weekly political column by 1982, rose to become the paper’s senior political reporter and before long was regarded — given his stature and the newspaper’s reach and influence — as the dean of the state’s political press corps. For the last seven years, he reported for WMUR, the only commercial television station in New Hampshire.