Breaking News: Hugh Hefner has a statement. Repeat, Hugh Hefner has a statement. The tributes are starting to come in now. The tragic news. Anna Nicole Smith ... dead at 39.
This was the scene at 6:30 on MSNBC tonight - Rita Cosby, live "experts" on celebrity deaths, endless b-roll, "veteran celebrity journalists," hushed stand-ups outside the hospital. All Anna, all the time.
As terrible as the death of a young woman with a history of drug abuse clearly is, I submit that the depth to which our so-called news media sunk today is a far more important and tragic story for the republic. That Anna Nicole Smith, whose "career" consisted of celebrity news-making of the lowest order, is anything but a sad footnote in the national flow of news is sickening. Another Marine's death is a ho-hum half-sentence; save the special packages for Anna.
It's not Parkland Memorial Hospital.
It's not even 12305 5th Helena Drive in Brentwood, California.
This was a souped-up Marilyn impersonator, without the legacy of screwball comedy and iconic glamor.
And on the same day, the AP reported that "A U.S. airstrike Thursday killed 13 insurgents in a volatile area west of Baghdad, the military said. Local officials said 45 civilians, including women and children, died in the attack."
On the same day, the prosecution rested in the trial of Scooter Libby in the CIA covert leak case, a case that is shining a light on the action of the powerful Vice President of the United States.
Heck, on the same day some towns in upstate New York are paralyzed by six feet of snow!
Those are all what we used to call "news stories" back in the day - the kind of stories that should lead the major newscasts. Instead, we get pathetic, lame, culturally inept coverage of the sad death of a scarred minor celebrity in a casino hotel room.
UPDATE: Brendan Tween has a great perspective on this media phenomenon over at newcritics, comparing the coverage of Anna to the coverage of Molly - here's a taste:
When the passing of a voice that put bread on the table of our daily lives garners less than a minute in the feeble minds of the credit card-swiping herd, and at the same time are utterly saturated with news of the passing of someone who was more like a bedsore on the ass of the Great Society, we are in trouble.
UPDATE II: This is beyond insane. Rita Cosby just promo'd an upcoming segement on MSNBC - a tour of the autopsy room where Anna Nicole was examined! I kid you not: "this is the actual room where they performed the autopsyon Anna Nicole Smith, and we got an exclusive tour." Paging Jeff Zucker, paging Jeff Zucker. Please report to firestation Cosby. Your company is on fire.
UPDATE III: Jon Swift captures the nation's grief at this difficult, historic moment and wonders why President Bush seems so out of touch.
