Heath Ledger coverage getting distasteful for some...
I see it happening and wonder if I am contributing to it - the oversaturation of media coverage of Heath Ledger's death. From my perspective, I've tried to keep it tasteful and felt compelled to report on the hate-speak from come of the extreme right-wing nut jobs who I'd rather just ignore. It's just so sad.
But I look around and it all turns into this frenzy of paparazzi trying to snap a grieving Michelle Williams as she tries to get out of the damned car into her own house...of this Mary-Kate Olsen connection (She told ET that they were just friends) and on and on...of speculation about drugs, depression etc.
Really, we know nothing and until we do, I will keep my coverage limited to tributes to his work, updates about his completed films and in-proigress film, family statements and possibly comments from other actors who actually knew him (It was so tacky the way folks like Charlize Theron were given the news on a red carpet at Sundance and asked to react - on camera).
Anderson Cooper said on his show last night: “For the last two nights we have reported on actor Heath Ledger. His shocking death is clearly a story a lot of people are interested in, but tonight we will not be reporting more on it. The truth is there is not really anything new to report. The full results of the various tests done on Mr. Ledger will not be ready for perhaps a few weeks and there is very little new information. I have no doubt other networks will spend a lot of time tonight discussing his death and the various rumors about what might have caused it, but I am not a fan of speculation, so unless there is something really new to discuss we probably won’t be covering it anymore anytime soon.”
Star Jones writes In today's Huffington Post: “Might I suggest that we in the media, instead of reporting on the dead based on gossip, rumor, innuendo and anonymous sources, choose to honor this man’s memory based on his talent and the good taste we all should be exercising. My heart goes out to the family of Heath Ledger.”
Greg Hernandez has covered the entertainment industry for the Daily
News since 2001. He's considered a bit odd by some for his obsession
with box office numbers, has been known to camp out near the kitchen
at premieres for first crack at the hors d'oeurves, and Greg's never
seen a red carpet he didn't want to stroll down.