Blogs Break the Story of Heath Ledger's Passing
The tragic death of actor Heath Ledger has drawn nationwide attention from grieving fans and friends as well as the national media. While major television networks, including ABC, CBS and NBC ran segments yesterday regarding Ledger's unfortunate passing on their nightly news broadcasts, other sources of news actually broke the story to the public. Indeed, the Internet -- specifically, viral-based New Media -- appears to be challenging the mainstream media as the primary source for coverage of rapidly developing high-profile events.
The Huffington Post reports that even though cable news programs like 'Larry King Live' ran the story, Web sites like Radar and TMZ were responsible for first informing the public of Ledger's demise. Interestingly, timing issues rendered the New York Times and celebrity publications like US Weekly unable to report the story in print. Even the mainstream media, then, relied on the real-time capabilities of blogs to publicize the story. At the same time, Web-based outlets including TMZ were streaming video from the street outside Ledger's New York apartment, and blogs such as Gawker are constantly updating their sites with new information.
It is clear that the press coverage accompanying the 28-year-old actor's death is a sign of the times and of things to come. Members of the public deeply interested in particular issues will increasingly rely on digital media for more exhaustive and timely coverage. As we all take a moment to observe Heath Ledger's passing, let us notice the ever-changing world he left behind.
From The Huffington Post
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cindy @ Jan 23rd 2008 5:51PM
The only reason the blogosphere broke it first was because the local stations in NYC broke in on regular programming around 15 minutes after the police arrived at the apartment in SoHo. So technically, it was the NYC local TV stations who really broke the story. So much for the blogosphere.
dennis @ Feb 1st 2008 7:02AM
I just beleive that something is rotten about the entire thing...There are 5 years olds calling 911 when there is an emergency...Why did she call Olson...Could it have been that she found a note to Olson with evidence....then Olson told her to get rid of it....then was called back and was told it was taken care of...then wss told to do a check around the room again, and then was called back confirming everyting was taken care of....3 phone calls before 911....maybe evidence destroyed to prevent scandal...