Young Celebrities Prompting Early Obits - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Zoneboy · 01-20-2008, 04:49 PM

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — It's never been a secret that when people die after long and distinguished careers, those detailed stories about their passing that major news organizations seem to produce almost instantaneously in fact were written well in advance.

Now news that The Associated Press has prepared an obituary for 26-year-old Britney Spears has put the spotlight on a debate transpiring within the business of reporting death: With people grabbing the celebrity spotlight at a younger age, and some of them living lives of obviously dangerous excess, is it time for news organizations to begin preparing for early exits from celebritydom's under-30 crowd?

"It's a complex issue, a complex debate," says Washington Post reporter Adam Bernstein, one of the news media's most respected obituary writers. "It's unclear to what degree somebody really is on the edge. So do you spend the time to put something together when you're wondering whether it will run now or 70 years from now?"

Of the approximately 100 prepared obituaries The Washington Post has in its files, Bernstein couldn't recall any on a person under 30. He also questioned whether an obituary on someone like the troubled pop star could be much more than a recitation of bizarre public behavior, as opposed to focusing on real accomplishment.

"Somebody like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan or Amy Winehouse, you could arguably put something together," he said, naming three young stars who have lately become more prominent for bouts of bizarre behavior than displays of talent.

"But it takes a significant chunk of your time to do it and there are people who are incredibly more accomplished and in their 100s," Bernstein added.

He didn't deny, however, the huge public interest in anything any young star does. When Anna Nicole Smith, mainly famous for being famous, died at age 39 of a drug overdose last year, The Washington Post and numerous other newspapers put her obituary on their front pages.

Such interest, veteran Hollywood publicist Michael Levine believes, is being driven by the Internet. He speculated that the Web's ability to make stars of people overnight is forcing news organizations to be more prepared to tell those celebrities' stories within minutes of their demise.

"Technology makes all this stuff much more present in the consciousness of the culture," said Levine, former publicist for one of Hollywood's most bizarre personalities, Michael Jackson.

"There's much more pressure to get the news out right now," he added. "You distribute or you die."

It was Smith's death that served as a "wake-up call" to be prepared to report immediately on any high-profile person with a public history of troubled behavior, said Lou Ferrara, the AP's managing editor for sports, entertainment and multimedia.

"I don't think anyone particularly likes this part of the business, but it is something you need to do," said Ferrara, who was one of the editors who asked for the Spears obituary.

When Smith, the former Playboy Playmate of the Year, was found dead in a Florida hotel room, the AP did not have a prepared obituary. Neither did it have one on Brad Renfro, the 25-year-old actor who died earlier this month, two years after being arrested as he tried to purchase heroin on Los Angeles' Skid Row.

The fact that celebrities sometimes die young is of course not a new phenomenon. James Dean's car-crash death at age 24 in 1955 shocked the nation. So to a lesser extent did the drug-overdose deaths of former "Saturday Night Live" stars John Belushi in 1982 and Chris Farley in 1997. The year 1970 is famous in the annals of rock music for the substance abuse deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, who were both under 30.

As for today's celebrities, "I don't know that more younger people are at risk, but they certainly seem to be in the news more," Ferrara said, noting the extensive coverage given to the death of Renfro, a relatively minor celebrity. Deciding which ones to prepare obituaries for, he said, is a judgment call decided on a case-by-case basis.

The AP has approximately 1,000 prepared obituaries in its files on a wide variety of public figures. Although most are on people over 70, Spears is not the only 20-something whose passing the news agency is ready for.

The Los Angeles Times has approximately 400 prepared obits as they are called, although they lean heavily toward much older newsmakers, said Jon Thurber, the paper's obituary editor. Britney Spears is not among them.

"While we're aware of celebrities and their problems, to try and go ahead and do advance obituaries on these folks when they're going through their dark periods would probably be more work than we could handle and stay up with the older people we need to cover," Thurber said.

"That isn't to say we don't do some prep work on certain (younger) figures who are at risk," he noted. "We might gather some advance material on people and have it ready."

But Thurber said it's too much of a guessing game to invest the time on a full obituary on someone who might turn their life around in the next year or so. He cited Robert Downey Jr. and Courtney Love as two prime examples of once troubled people who seem to have worked through their problems.

At the same time, he said, there's no way to deal with the unpredictability of death.

"Who in the '60s," Thurber asked, "would have thought Keith Richards would have outlasted John Denver?"

dawsongirl · 01-20-2008, 05:20 PM

That's just weird and morbid. Britney could live to be 100 for all we know.

friendsfan77 · 01-20-2008, 06:04 PM

Wow. How negative can these people get?

Dean Winchester · 01-20-2008, 06:08 PM

to quote Cordelia Chase.... morbid much?

*ClassicPinUp* · 01-20-2008, 07:09 PM

All in the name of money and being the first ones to "break" the story. Disgusting. These people should be more than ashamed of themselves.

junecleaver · 01-21-2008, 01:32 AM

That is beyond messed up. I wouldn't be suprised if one of these reporters actually try to kill her, that way they can be the first to know and first to get their story out

I like how those reporters/paparazzi people think that Britney Spears is crazy, when it's obvious that they are worse than she'll ever get. At least Britney doesn't chase people with a camera in her hand, run along side a moving vehicle yelling "are you pregnant" or other personal things, and stalks celebs in grocery stores at midnight and all hours of the night. Britney Spears is 100 times more sane than these crazy people. She can't get a break from these strange, scary people (who don't forget...they think they are actually BETTER than Britney) and this is probably causing some of her insanity. I would go insane too if i was constantly being harassed and stalked all day by stupid excuses for human beings.

Dean Winchester · 01-21-2008, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by junecleaver

That is beyond messed up. I wouldn't be suprised if one of these reporters actually try to kill her, that way they can be the first to know and first to get their story out

I like how those reporters/paparazzi people think that Britney Spears is crazy, when it's obvious that they are worse than she'll ever get. At least Britney doesn't chase people with a camera in her hand, run along side a moving vehicle yelling "are you pregnant" or other personal things, and stalks celebs in grocery stores at midnight and all hours of the night. Britney Spears is 100 times more sane than these crazy people. She can't get a break from these strange, scary people (who don't forget...they think they are actually BETTER than Britney) and this is probably causing some of her insanity. I would go insane too if i was constantly being harassed and stalked all day by stupid excuses for human beings.

I love how the media made Justin Timberlake into an "*******" because he turned the table on the paparazzi one day when he brought a video camera and started filming them filming him. Why is he a bad guy for showing them what they do to him on a daily basis?

junecleaver · 01-21-2008, 01:41 AM

Wow, i didn't hear about Justin Timberlake. Way to go Justin!

I also like the ones where the celebs....I'm not sure if it was Gwenth paltrow's husband??...who recently socked a paparazzi loser down to the ground and took his camera away..then the idiot had the nerve to chase him down and try to take the camera away! Idiot. They get all mad and want to sue if the celeb steals their cameras...i say...let the celebs do it. They need to crack down and make these paparazzi things illegal. Its dangerous and is the most stupid thing on this earth. They also managed to make Gweneth Paltrow's husband look like he was wrong too.

TripperFan · 01-21-2008, 11:22 AM

A picture of the media says a thousand words....

junecleaver · 01-21-2008, 02:04 PM

tripper fan. That is exactly what i call them....vultures. They are no different than them and i think a vulture is more civil

waichingliu81 · 01-21-2008, 02:17 PM

i previously studied journalism at college and uni, and yet thankfully i am very glad that i decided not to go down that path- career wise that is, in the end. i don't want to be perceived by people as someone who literally sticks their nose into other people's lives and **** them up, and do it for the money and to sell papers. the majoirty of the press these days are well, how could i put it, scum

Dean Winchester · 01-21-2008, 03:28 PM

I am surprised nobody has thought of making it a law that paparazzi's must not be within 100 feet of a celebrity? I mean.... if it wasn't because of these bastards, Princess Di would still be alive. And just look at the way they are hounding and stalking Britney every single time she steps outside. I am the first person to admit I am no fan of the woman, but every human being should be entitled to some privacy. Do we need to know if she decided to go to Starbucks for a cup of coffee? I mean, wow... she's a human being who drinks Starbucks, what's the big deal? I think Paparazzi's should be forced severe limitations about what they can and cannot do to a celebrity. Yea, maybe certain magazines may suffer, but who cares, they are usually trashy publications. Maybe Perez Hilton might have to get a real job, oh well... and so is life.

friendsfan77 · 01-21-2008, 05:35 PM

If I were a celeb I'd honestly get a restraining order against those people.

friendsfan77 · 01-21-2008, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waichingliu81

i previously studied journalism at college and uni, and yet thankfully i am very glad that i decided not to go down that path- career wise that is, in the end. i don't want to be perceived by people as someone who literally sticks their nose into other people's lives and **** them up, and do it for the money and to sell papers. the majoirty of the press these days are well, how could i put it, scum

It really sucks, those kinds of "reporters" make the decent journalists with good intentions look bad

TripperFan · 01-21-2008, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dean Winchester

I am surprised nobody has thought of making it a law that paparazzi's must not be within 100 feet of a celebrity? I mean.... if it wasn't because of these bastards, Princess Di would still be alive. And just look at the way they are hounding and stalking Britney every single time she steps outside. I am the first person to admit I am no fan of the woman, but every human being should be entitled to some privacy. Do we need to know if she decided to go to Starbucks for a cup of coffee? I mean, wow... she's a human being who drinks Starbucks, what's the big deal? I think Paparazzi's should be forced severe limitations about what they can and cannot do to a celebrity. Yea, maybe certain magazines may suffer, but who cares, they are usually trashy publications. Maybe Perez Hilton might have to get a real job, oh well... and so is life.

Even then it wouldn't help. They might not be in the celeb's face then, but with the extremely expensive, high-powered zoom lenses these clowns have they still wouldn't have privacy. Remember when Diana was pregnant with William and she and Charles were on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere. She wanted to take a simple swim with her husband. She was wearing a green bikini and sure enough, the pap made sure they got pics of her with her belly showing. A huge scandal at the time. They figure the photographers had to be stationed close to a mile away and they still got photos.

I say RAID should come out with a fogger not just for hornets, wasps, cockroaches, but also paparazzi!

01-20-2008, 04:49 PM	#1
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,439	Young Celebrities Prompting Early Obits Link LOS ANGELES (AP) — It's never been a secret that when people die after long and distinguished careers, those detailed stories about their passing that major news organizations seem to produce almost instantaneously in fact were written well in advance. Now news that The Associated Press has prepared an obituary for 26-year-old Britney Spears has put the spotlight on a debate transpiring within the business of reporting death: With people grabbing the celebrity spotlight at a younger age, and some of them living lives of obviously dangerous excess, is it time for news organizations to begin preparing for early exits from celebritydom's under-30 crowd? "It's a complex issue, a complex debate," says Washington Post reporter Adam Bernstein, one of the news media's most respected obituary writers. "It's unclear to what degree somebody really is on the edge. So do you spend the time to put something together when you're wondering whether it will run now or 70 years from now?" Of the approximately 100 prepared obituaries The Washington Post has in its files, Bernstein couldn't recall any on a person under 30. He also questioned whether an obituary on someone like the troubled pop star could be much more than a recitation of bizarre public behavior, as opposed to focusing on real accomplishment. "Somebody like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan or Amy Winehouse, you could arguably put something together," he said, naming three young stars who have lately become more prominent for bouts of bizarre behavior than displays of talent. "But it takes a significant chunk of your time to do it and there are people who are incredibly more accomplished and in their 100s," Bernstein added. He didn't deny, however, the huge public interest in anything any young star does. When Anna Nicole Smith, mainly famous for being famous, died at age 39 of a drug overdose last year, The Washington Post and numerous other newspapers put her obituary on their front pages. Such interest, veteran Hollywood publicist Michael Levine believes, is being driven by the Internet. He speculated that the Web's ability to make stars of people overnight is forcing news organizations to be more prepared to tell those celebrities' stories within minutes of their demise. "Technology makes all this stuff much more present in the consciousness of the culture," said Levine, former publicist for one of Hollywood's most bizarre personalities, Michael Jackson. "There's much more pressure to get the news out right now," he added. "You distribute or you die." It was Smith's death that served as a "wake-up call" to be prepared to report immediately on any high-profile person with a public history of troubled behavior, said Lou Ferrara, the AP's managing editor for sports, entertainment and multimedia. "I don't think anyone particularly likes this part of the business, but it is something you need to do," said Ferrara, who was one of the editors who asked for the Spears obituary. When Smith, the former Playboy Playmate of the Year, was found dead in a Florida hotel room, the AP did not have a prepared obituary. Neither did it have one on Brad Renfro, the 25-year-old actor who died earlier this month, two years after being arrested as he tried to purchase heroin on Los Angeles' Skid Row. The fact that celebrities sometimes die young is of course not a new phenomenon. James Dean's car-crash death at age 24 in 1955 shocked the nation. So to a lesser extent did the drug-overdose deaths of former "Saturday Night Live" stars John Belushi in 1982 and Chris Farley in 1997. The year 1970 is famous in the annals of rock music for the substance abuse deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, who were both under 30. As for today's celebrities, "I don't know that more younger people are at risk, but they certainly seem to be in the news more," Ferrara said, noting the extensive coverage given to the death of Renfro, a relatively minor celebrity. Deciding which ones to prepare obituaries for, he said, is a judgment call decided on a case-by-case basis. The AP has approximately 1,000 prepared obituaries in its files on a wide variety of public figures. Although most are on people over 70, Spears is not the only 20-something whose passing the news agency is ready for. The Los Angeles Times has approximately 400 prepared obits as they are called, although they lean heavily toward much older newsmakers, said Jon Thurber, the paper's obituary editor. Britney Spears is not among them. "While we're aware of celebrities and their problems, to try and go ahead and do advance obituaries on these folks when they're going through their dark periods would probably be more work than we could handle and stay up with the older people we need to cover," Thurber said. "That isn't to say we don't do some prep work on certain (younger) figures who are at risk," he noted. "We might gather some advance material on people and have it ready." But Thurber said it's too much of a guessing game to invest the time on a full obituary on someone who might turn their life around in the next year or so. He cited Robert Downey Jr. and Courtney Love as two prime examples of once troubled people who seem to have worked through their problems. At the same time, he said, there's no way to deal with the unpredictability of death. "Who in the '60s," Thurber asked, "would have thought Keith Richards would have outlasted John Denver?"
	__________________ 'Twas The Night Before Christmas And All Through The Full House Not A Creature Was Stirring, Not Even Mighty Mouse. All My Children We're Nestled All Snug In Their Beds While Visions Of Sugarbakers Danced In Their Heads.

01-20-2008, 07:09 PM	#5
ClassicPinUp ***** Senior Member** Join Date: Oct 28, 2006 Posts: 2,246	All in the name of money and being the first ones to "break" the story. Disgusting. These people should be more than ashamed of themselves.
	__________________ Imy firefighter!

01-21-2008, 11:22 AM	#9
TripperFan In God's Arms Now Forum Star Join Date: Sep 14, 2003 Location: Heartbreak Ridge Posts: 12,086	A picture of the media says a thousand words.... Attached Images
	__________________ If I don't see you in this world, I'll meet you in the next one.....don't be late James Marshall Hendrix Voodoo Chile The Forum Legend formerly known as TripperFan "religion is for people who are afraid of hell--spirituality is for people who have been through hell"---anonymous

01-20-2008, 05:20 PM	#2
dawsongirl Member Forum Icon Join Date: Jan 04, 2001 Posts: 53,140	That's just weird and morbid. Britney could live to be 100 for all we know.

01-20-2008, 06:04 PM	#3
friendsfan77 - Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 02, 2004 Location: Duluth, GA Posts: 3,165	Wow. How negative can these people get?

01-20-2008, 06:08 PM	#4
Dean Winchester Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 28, 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 14,803	to quote Cordelia Chase.... morbid much?

01-21-2008, 01:32 AM	#6
junecleaver Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 28, 2003 Location: i'm a southerner! :D Posts: 1,298	That is beyond messed up. I wouldn't be suprised if one of these reporters actually try to kill her, that way they can be the first to know and first to get their story out I like how those reporters/paparazzi people think that Britney Spears is crazy, when it's obvious that they are worse than she'll ever get. At least Britney doesn't chase people with a camera in her hand, run along side a moving vehicle yelling "are you pregnant" or other personal things, and stalks celebs in grocery stores at midnight and all hours of the night. Britney Spears is 100 times more sane than these crazy people. She can't get a break from these strange, scary people (who don't forget...they think they are actually BETTER than Britney) and this is probably causing some of her insanity. I would go insane too if i was constantly being harassed and stalked all day by stupid excuses for human beings.

01-21-2008, 01:41 AM	#8
junecleaver Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 28, 2003 Location: i'm a southerner! :D Posts: 1,298	Wow, i didn't hear about Justin Timberlake. Way to go Justin! I also like the ones where the celebs....I'm not sure if it was Gwenth paltrow's husband??...who recently socked a paparazzi loser down to the ground and took his camera away..then the idiot had the nerve to chase him down and try to take the camera away! Idiot. They get all mad and want to sue if the celeb steals their cameras...i say...let the celebs do it. They need to crack down and make these paparazzi things illegal. Its dangerous and is the most stupid thing on this earth. They also managed to make Gweneth Paltrow's husband look like he was wrong too.

01-21-2008, 02:04 PM	#10
junecleaver Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 28, 2003 Location: i'm a southerner! :D Posts: 1,298	tripper fan. That is exactly what i call them....vultures. They are no different than them and i think a vulture is more civil

01-21-2008, 02:17 PM	#11
waichingliu81 debbie allen Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 28, 2006 Location: london, england, UK Posts: 4,347	i previously studied journalism at college and uni, and yet thankfully i am very glad that i decided not to go down that path- career wise that is, in the end. i don't want to be perceived by people as someone who literally sticks their nose into other people's lives and **** them up, and do it for the money and to sell papers. the majoirty of the press these days are well, how could i put it, scum

01-21-2008, 03:28 PM	#12
Dean Winchester Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Sep 28, 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 14,803	I am surprised nobody has thought of making it a law that paparazzi's must not be within 100 feet of a celebrity? I mean.... if it wasn't because of these bastards, Princess Di would still be alive. And just look at the way they are hounding and stalking Britney every single time she steps outside. I am the first person to admit I am no fan of the woman, but every human being should be entitled to some privacy. Do we need to know if she decided to go to Starbucks for a cup of coffee? I mean, wow... she's a human being who drinks Starbucks, what's the big deal? I think Paparazzi's should be forced severe limitations about what they can and cannot do to a celebrity. Yea, maybe certain magazines may suffer, but who cares, they are usually trashy publications. Maybe Perez Hilton might have to get a real job, oh well... and so is life.

01-21-2008, 05:35 PM	#13
friendsfan77 - Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 02, 2004 Location: Duluth, GA Posts: 3,165	If I were a celeb I'd honestly get a restraining order against those people.