Tuesday, January 22, 2008
I wonder...
Here's my question... and possibly a volatile one. (Or not. It's never that deep.)How did your newsroom react when news of Heath Ledger's death crossed the wires?
Here, there were shrieks abound. From the women, at least. The men? Not so much.
"That's unfortunate," one older colleague said. Then he asked me to put out the broadcast script, and that was that.
MSNBC and CNN cut in with breaking news, rehashing Heath's past movie roles and what may have caused his death. And then... back today's other news. The economy. The stimulus package. Oh, and that pesky presidential campaign.
"They're not going all 'Anna Nicole' with the wall-to-wall coverage?" another young, female colleague pondered.
"No... I guess not, huh?" I replied.
Even within our newsroom, the surprise quickly quieted to the usual dull roar. I cocked my head to the side.
"You know," I countered, turning back to my co-worker, "I bet if women ran the newsrooms, it would be SOOO 'Anna Nicole' with Heath."
"You think?" she asked.
"Yeah!" I pointed to the reactions just 15 minutes earlier. We freaked. The guys, again... not so much.
Then I pointed to the text messages and Facebook communiques that started coming in. All but one, from women.
"So you're saying because Anna Nicole was a chick, she got all the attention?" my co-worker said. It was her turn to cock her head to the side.
"Hmmm... I think I see where you're going with this."
Labels: 24-hour news cycle, broadcasting, journalism, musings
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I feel you.
But, I wonder if Anna Nicole's media blitz was fueled largely by the child and the paternity suit. Also, she was a larger than life character; Ledger was much more low key and really just at the start of his Hollywood ascent.