Sigh

[pecunium]

Outside the politcal-junkie arena, the Edwards blogger-flap is now old news.

Because Anna Nicole Smith dropped dead.

I wasn't going to mention it, but I went to run some errands (bought some potting soil, and a 72 cup sprouting bed. Fennel, melons and mignonette go into dirt tomorrow) and when I came back, 90 minutes later, CNN was still running nothing but stuff about her.

WTF? She was famous because she took her clothes off (which I'm not against, but you know what, I don't see that it qualifies as something which ought to be noteworthy), married a billionaire, and was sued because of his leaving her a lot of money.

Which might merit adding her to the headline cycle, but to stop everything else (how many choppers were shot down in the past couple of weeks? What about the four Marines who died in Al Anbar. The pallet-loads of money which was just handed out when Bremer was leaving Iraq [and why didn't I get some?]? The budget?) that we might be hearing about, and interview some poor bastard who was there when the body was moved?

Why... because all they know is she's dead. She has a kid (6 months old) a fortune, and some question about who will be the guardian (and trustee) for a (still-contested) fortune.

To add insult to injury (and what set me off), while I was gone, they went from speculations about the estate, to talking of her as if she was some sort of hero/saint. I find it hard to believe (though not impossible) all of Hollywood is now in mourning, that she was some huge influence on studios, producers and all the rest of the people who make up Hollywood.

But that (and the description of her recent life as being full of hardship, which she overcame) is what they were saying.

I feel for her friends. I feel sorry for the kid. I suspect a lot of the money (though given how much is at stake, not a significant amount; in terms of relative value to the estate) is going to end up in the pockets of lawyers.

I also, to be honest, don't give a damn, and want the press to pay attention to things which actually have real effect, and relegate the entertainment/personality news, to the second (or third) tier, where it belongs.

Comments

[cmdrsuzdal.livejournal.com]

Things like this are why I've recently completely given up on TV news. I kept feeling torn because I know that's how most people get their news and feel obliged to know how they see the world. But Fox and non-news "news" programs like the Lou Dobbs show had eroded my will over the last couple of years.

The coverage of the Boston Lite Brite Terror was the final straw for me, I simply have no faith or interest in American TV news. Frankly I think it's time is past.

[cynthia1960.livejournal.com]

Definitely third tier news at the best.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Smith was that uniquely American phenomenon, a Professional Celebrity. If she had actual skills or talents, we never saw them. She was famous for being famous, nothing more.

We eat that shit up.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I feel this way about most celebrities.

Ford, Reagan, you name 'em, when they die, mention it, do an obit, and move on.

TK

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear. And ditto for all the energy bloggers are spending on gleefully tearing her to pieces. Why can't they direct that somewhere useful for gods'sakes? Grrrr.

[quercus.livejournal.com]

[...] the Edwards blogger-flap is now old news.

Because Anna Nicole Smith dropped dead.

Conspiracy!!

Anna Nicole murdered to deflect media interest from Iraq conflict!!
Usenet k00ks at eleven.

[perlmonger.livejournal.com]

It's a bit, well, downmarket in diversionary "news" though, no? Compared with, say, Downing Street organising the 9/11 attacks and Phil the Greek killing Diana.

[texaslawchick.livejournal.com]

Eh. I liked her, as I posted right after she died, and I'm not surprised at all at the response to her death. It was unexpected if unsurprising, and her life story was a continuing trainwreck, so of course people are going to pay attention to it. My post from yesterday has had more hits on it than any other post in the last month or so. It's also brought a ton of never before visitors to my journal (64 percent of my hits yesterday were never before, and the average is usually in the low 20s).

And personally, though I know the campaigns are starting, I'm still recovering from the last presidential election to start worrying about the missteps of candidates in the next one. My interest in the Edwards blogger thing would be because a) I've been reading Amanda for years and I like and generally agree with what she's said in that time, and b) generally anything that Donahue et. al. has to say, I kneejerkedly react to in the opposite way. I don't know how much interest I'd have if this were about a couple of bloggers I don't generally read and comments from an organization that doesn't piss me off on a regular basis.