The Reluctant Whore

Star Jones has taken the high road on the reportage of Heath Ledger’s death and has criticised the media for the way they’ve handled the grizzlier parts of the story. I’m always vehemently distrustful of Star Jones because she’s an insanely self promoting narcissist who married a gay man but insists we all play along but here she’s being essentially reasonable. She wrote:

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.

And the thing is, most media outlets are actually reporting it as it comes up and making clear distinctions between what is considered rumour and what is known to be true. They have been pretty good about it. Even Perez Hilton is not using photos he thinks are distasteful. He posted:

Heath Ledger's family will arrive in New York City on Friday from Australia.

Out of respect for their privacy, we won't name the funeral home the service will take place in. It'd be nice if the media left his family alone on that day, but we don't think that will happen.
Ledger's ex, Michelle Williams, and daughter, Matilda, arrived at their Brooklyn home on Wednesday. They were greeted by hordes of paparazzi. So wrong.

We didn't use those pics. Nor did we use the pics of Ledger's body being taken out of his apartment.

And we won't use pics from outside the funeral parlor.

Hopefully others will follow suit.

Even though they’re both totally not the same type of person, the way the media are handling this compared with the way they handled Anna Nicole Smith’s death is astonishing. It’s alarming what a little talent will do. [source] [source]