Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham
Yes, I’m insensitive – I’m admitting that up front.
OK, so here goes.
Why are the news networks treating the death of Anna Nicole like it was 9/11?
I mean, seriously – she was a Playboy model.
Er … um …
(I only read Playboy for the articles. So I only know that … you know … from the media accounts. Yeah, yeah, that’s the ticket.)
She tried to be an actress – not a good idea.
She tried to be a billionairess – not a good idea.
Then she plumped up and got a reality show – I hate to admit that I watched it.
(Not a good idea – me watching it, that is.)
Then she lost all the weight – got back in the news that way.
Oh, and took her battle for her late hubby’s billions all the way to the Supreme Court.
More news.
It’s tragic that she’s dead – I’m not trying to make light of that at all.
But come on …
You would think that the president had just gotten offed – what with all the media attention that this story is getting.
And I hate to be the one to say it out loud – but it’s not like this should be a total surprise.
You know?
You gain weight and lose it like she did – and live the Hollywood starlet lifestyle that is she said to have lived – and it’s not at all out of the realm of possibility that something like this will happen.
The fact that the death of Anna Nicole Smith gets this level of attention from our media says more about our media than it does about her.
Really – helicopters are falling out of the sky in Iraq, the hard-liners are consolidating their control of Mother Russia, the ice caps are melting away more every second … and we get wall-to-wall nude centerfold from how many years ago now?
But hey, I’m sure the ratings were good – I mean, I had to watch at least some of this schlop to be able to write about it, right?
So maybe, just maybe, the hubbub says more about us than it does even about our media.
Hmmm …
I might have to ponder over that one for a while.
Chris Graham is the executive editor of The New Dominion.
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