It’s worth it if you focus on her voice & performances instead of focusing on her drug addiction.

C’mon Dems, who’s gonna be the first to haul out the “Racist!” Smear?

Who’d Media Matters assign to that to today?

I really don,t thinkl this is a (left or right issue).

The coverage given Houston is excessive (but, in the world of 24/7 journalism, effortless and mindless). 

Her influence was relegated to tabliods and the likes of TMZ. Her infamy was for those who love watching a good train wreck or NASCAR accident.  It wasn’t her musical gift that first came to mind when her name was mentioned in conversation.

If the media is to focus on something,  Houston’s drug addiction is exactly what we should be focused on in the days following her self induced death.

She had an amazng talent which she wasted.  Sadly, family members and friends who claim to love her the most had no influence on her destructive behavior and either did or could do little to rescue her.  We also know that celebrity has a tendency to allow enablers to claim power over the self obsessed and addicted.  Why no one in Houston’s circle of friends and family could help her will, like it is with so many families who have addicted members, a mystery.

Her decline from musical icon to freak show tabloid fodder is a story often repeate in the world of the arts.  Houston must be given the responsibility for her decline.  She will be an excellent role model for those trying to scare a loved one straight.

What I wold have liked to see in the coverage is what each of us can do when we have a friend or loved one with Houston’s problem.  All of us need to be aware of the weapons available to us to help our loved ones fight addiction and reckless behavior.

This is also an excellent time to once again have an open and frank discussion about the insane problem of addiction in this country.  It’s time to focus and spend or resources on how we help addicts instead of how we punish them.

As soon as somebody dares to commit the unforgivable sin and crime and say that they did not care for Whitney Houston’s singing, they will be declared hateful racists.

Its worth the same news coverage of any other cultural Icon’ untimely death in America.  It should not take priority over the economy or Afghanistan, but should make the top of the list for cultural stories…unless your HLN…then just shut down all other stories and give this 24/7 coverage.

I totally agree with the article writer’s explanation that the timing and location of Whitney Houston’s death makes it more shocking and compelling. Her life has certainly been a hot mess for the last decade, but there is something poignant about her dying right before a party celebrating her mentor after spending the day enjoying and guiding her protégées. Moreover, she once ruled the Grammy ceremonies with a kind of class and grace that made her self-distruction all the more disheartening. Saturday morning we were greeted with the prospect that her life was getting back on track via The X-Factor, only for her to be dead 9 hours later. It’s sad.

Of course, the irony of Kurtz’s comments is that he’s complaining about over coverage two days after this woman’s death, when CNN went overboard with Anna Nicole Smith’s death for numerous weeks. At least Whitney Houston had an undeniable talent and a transcendent beauty, which for a time made her truly America’s Sweetheart/Anthem Maker.

Only when someone claims her success was because of ‘Affirmative Action’

I did not care for her singing, and I am most decidedly not a racist.

Yes, Howie, the coverage is over the top.

Your the only one who has mentioned racism!

It seems to me that we ask that question every time a famous person dies – no matter what the cause.  But if we believe they died because of drugs or by their own hand – well, that’s news – ad nauseum.

But, do we ever learn from any of these tragedies?  Where is the safety net for those we know are in trouble?  Where are all the friends and family before the tragedy?

I’m not placing blame on anyone.  Whitney’s problems were ones shared by so many.  As a society, we try to solve them – but in the end – it is “self” that has to deal with the demons.  Many times they win – but too often than not – they lose.

Deserves coverage…perhaps a lot of coverage….wall to wall coverage not sure (okay no)…The Media always looks for a strong wind to fill its sails. Doesn’t seem to be much interest in Syria, Greece etc. and political news is becoming tired. People will complain about all the storys that aren’t being covered….it’s true…you’re right but in their (media) defense the Whitney story is easily accessible by all. Everyone knows her..her music…and many are aware of her stuggles. What’s interesting about this story to me is how quickly the narrative on Whitney has changed. She was regarded as a joke..failure..has been on Friday…but on Saturday she’s referred to as a National Treasure. NO I’m not badmouthing her…I agree with the latter (by and large) talent wise. The media can justify the extensive coverage in regards to the passing of a legend….not so much as to the passing of a simple celebrity.

Not just HLN …. Yesterday afternoon, it was pretty much the entire programming on FOX “News” with Harris Faulkner.

 Kurtz asked, “Given the magnitude here; of how this is treated, at least on the airwaves, is the Whitney Houston story worth that kind of coverage?”
Oh, right, just like the worthy kind of coverage that the Bush administration received when it sold the invasion of Iraq, based on a pack of lies to the American public. The same kind of “worthy coverage” that the press did prior to the 2008 economic implosion. 

Houston’s coverage is typical of how the media has pushed celebrity-focused journalism for years.

That lily-white blonde, Harris Faulkner devoted her show on FNC just to prove to the world in general and to you in particular that FNC is racist, they lie and make up hateful “facts” as you and your ilk repeatedly claim.

RIGHT?? 

Way to go Norbit Peters.  Take the tragic death of one of America’s great singers who will be remembered in time for her great voice and hit songs and make it political.   It’s Monday morning and the right wing asshats are already at it.

There is a wonderful two pronged safety net for everyone, should they choose to try it:

SELF-RESPECT and SELF-CONTROL.

Such racism.

 Don’t underestimate yourself.

Actually, I used Ms. Faulkner as an example because I happened to have her program on whilst I was making little heart-shaped cookies for the ladies in my life for tomorrow. But, please, what a fertile field for paranoia you have given us. Continue.

hi?> Do you feel life is sometimes a little boring? passion has been lost gradually.  I’d like to recommend you an exciting place for casual encounters or NSA relationship etc. Try find your luck on —-casualmingle dot ‘c ‘o ‘m—  You will meet your match partner: )

face it Howie. your death won’t generate this much buzz and that’s what bothers you the most.

Are you a polygamist?

To be fair, Whitney Houston’s success was definitely NOT due to Affirmative Action.

She had a God-given talent and a golden voice.

However, she succumbed to the trend of her day, which dictated – and was accepted and followed by all her compatriots – that the louder you screech, scream, shout and groan the better liked you will be.

She lost me with her whining with “I will always love you”.   

I’m kind of with you on that. The worst is American Idol.

Don’t think?

It’s NOT a left or right issue.

Whitney Houston is getting less coverage than Amy Winehouse’s death.

Wonder how much coverage I’ll get when I die.

My friend just met a chocolate man on Blac’kwhitemeet.COMit’s where for men and women looking for interracial’ship for a fabulous lifestyle
It’s a nice place for black white sing’les, to interact with each other…no bounds or extremes in front of true love.

The addict person has to want to stop behavior, I have an friend who became addicted to drugs, and he had support from family, friends, co workers. He had access to treatment, support and care. He however did not want to quit so, I guess my point is that there has to be  personal responsibilty for ones actionsand choices.

Even if there is no race baiting, its like all you think about, norbit.

No, I’m RC not LDS. Ladies include not only my wife, but my sisters, my Godmother, my secretaries, the two young ladies who live next door ….

>It wasn’t her musical gift that first came to mind when her name was mentioned in conversation.<

When it comes to artists, I am interested in their art, and I care far less about their personal life. That's like a side issue. Judy Garland? When you think of her, she is just a life long drug addict?

For the most part, news programs tend to cover what will give them the best ratings, which is to say they give people what they want, and for at least a few days, Houston is a big news story that people are watching.

comment moved

Are those ladies aware of the vicious insults you issue about the appearances of other ladies, and of how you cheer on other liberals who do that too?

 It really depends on how you go.

The real story is the 24 hour news machine and the grim reality is that really nothing is worth reporting on for 24 hours straight.  Sure there are huge stories like disasters, bombings, crashes, death, destruction and all that, but very little will change in 24 hours.  It goes back to the old SNL joke of (I am not going to try to spell it) still being dead.  From the time of her death til now, the only stories “worth” reporting on were reactions of family and friends and the Grammys. That is it.  We have created this beast and we must feed it, however there is no food.   

Wow. I wonder why this guy would say that after the unbelievably pointless and unstoppable focus on the joke of the Republican nominatino process.  We’ve given weeks to Michelle Bachman, Hermain Cain’s 999 plan to nowhere and Trumps endorsement of himself.  You can’t spare 5 minutes for someone that actually positively affected millions of people and changed millions of lives through her music of LOVE?

LOVE!!! That’s why we give her a national spotlight.

Her renditions songs that she changed forever will live on forever:

I Will Always Love you

Jesus Loves Me

The Star Spangled Banner

I wanna know do you really love me

I wanna dance with somebody

Where do broken hearts go

Didn’d we almost have it all

Saving all my love for you

and my favorite, The Greatest Love of All

I get goosebumps just thinking about the positivity and inspiration in her work.  I wish we could all live up to that standard of regardless of whether we are perfect or not, the gift we give the world should be that of LOVE.

Amen…

Good lord Kurtz, way to come off as a complete deeeeeeeeeebag.

It’s unfortunate when anybody loses control over booze and drugs and dies as a result of an addiction. Frankly, I never cared that much about her style of singing. She took that one song and stretched the notes to the point where it became annoying. The only thing, I’ve remembered her for is the movie Bodyguard with Kevin Kosner. Yes, I do think after being out of the spotlight for years, all of a sudden every cable station and the 3 major networks, as well as all the morning shows can’t get enough of her. There is just too much coverage, period.

Right?….Wow…

I should think, much as they are aware not all women are ladies and that strong women seldom feel insulted.

I should think if you were found dead and naked in Windsor Castle or spontaneously blew up in Red Lobster you would get some coverage.

How I wish I could watch you explain to your lady friends that it’s perfectly fine for you to insult the looks of women who you don’t deem to be proper ladies and if the non-ladies were strong they wouldn’t be insulted by your calling them whorish looking or fat, in the first place.

If they can swallow that bullshit, your cookies should be no problem.

What’s a better way to spend one’s time : watching Howie Kurtz’s TV show, or practicing farting the alphabet ?

“Should” ain’t got nuttin to do with it. Programming choices, including news related ones, are mostly a function of what the people want, which is the same thing in that sense as “ratings”. Fox News caters to the right wing crowd because they otherwise had little or no choice in the pre-Fox News era but to listen to liberal propaganda on virtually all networks. Fox News gave them what they want, which is right wing oriented news programming. And look at the ratings. (Of course the rest of Fox caters to secular pillars like sports, gossip, profanity, singing, movies, humor and the like). Whitney gets coverage because, issues and all, she was wildly popular, and considered extremely influential to untold young artists. Her demise is crushing.

I know the King er Emperor isn’t fond of Whitney’s tunes but really her last album was very good, I thought, including this lead song. Here’s the video (sorry about the comercial that has been added on you tube apparently for someone to start cashing in) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pze_mdbOK8&ob=av3n

I like this line in the article: “Continuing to display the sensitivity of a frostbitten masseuse”. I just fell off my chair laughing with that quote. Maybe Kurtz is one of those guys that listened to only Brahms and Bach while everyone was enjoying the 80′s and 90′s.

If Garth Brooks, Bruce Springsteen or some other well known entertainer died (God forbid – not too soon), we’d all be mourning.  Come on, buddy.

 *You’re not your

Actually, Fox covered other stories yesterday. It was a lot of CNN’s coverage.

MSNBC just cared about prisons.

Why in the world do you spend your weekends watching the news? No hobbies?

The Emperor didn’t denote whether these ladies were real or “imaginary.”

Howard: Its worth it to those who have not life or lack substance in theirs.

Never forget what the republicans at Fox Nation said about Whitney, never forget.

 http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/whitney_houstons_death_really_brings_out_the_trolls_at_fox_nation

mostly yes

In English or in ebonics?

Typical Murcuhn knee-jerk nonsense.  For lifeless people who need to leap into another grief-mode.  Pitiful.

I agree with your analysis. . . after I saw one or two episodes of “me and bobby brown”, all I could think of when I thought about her was what a trainwreck!  She was a major drug abuser, and couldn’t get off the stuff because she chose not to. . .she should be remembered as a fine singer, but honestly, enough is enough.  Over the last decade, she because a used woman, with more failures than successes, and dragged her daughter along the downward spiral.  Even bobby brown, whom I dislike intensely got out. . . honor her musical talent, but please stop the hero worship, just like the fans and media did to the emaciated, drug-addicted MJ, saying he was “fine” before his death.  We’re missing the point. . .

My dear I told you I was baking cookies, actually rolling, cutting, baking and icing, various sized and shaped hearts, for the important women in my life for Valentine’s. Whilst I was doing that, I had on FOX “News” for a period of time. Cooking and baking is, in fact, one of my hobbies. And, I was reduced to indoor activities as it was raining, thence sleeting, thence snowing in South Central Texas. The cookies, by the way, were a simple sugar cookie, a recipe of my great grandfather, and the icing was pink and red confectioner’s sugar mixed with butter vanilla and a bit of whole milk.

 What ever your post you did not leave a proper name which means you don’t wish to be identified! which think makes you a looser!!

 you like your kind are a young asshole with no idea what life is about! sheltered by mommy and daddy your whole life with values of a snail!

you life must be the one which all people pattern themselves! Should we call you our savior, are just another  asshole with a big mouth?

Whitney Houston has had more influence than Howard Kurtz has had!

How does Rachel Sklar look so awesome that early on a Sunday morning?

You know if I ever need to advertise a website, I know where to go now.

“[...] she was a huge musical star, you know, more than a decade ago, two
decades ago, and in the last decade she’s really been the star of a soap
opera, the soap opera of the problems in her life.”

Howard works in the cable news industry, and he’s honestly surprised at the coverage considering the latter part of that quote?  He’s either very dense or a terrible actor.

I know it sounds heartless, but Kurtz makes a valid point. In fact, he may not have taken it far enough. “Celebrity news” is not news, or at least, is not considered to be news in the face of actual life-affecting events happening around the world and in our backyards every day. I grew up as a fan of Whitney, as I’m sure many others here did, but what about her life or her death warrants the constant media storm that has arisen since Saturday? We see this type of overwhelming, and mostly uninformative coverage every time a celebrity dies… in a ‘tragic way,’ that is. Why? There are more important things happening. I don’t see round the clock coverage every time a teenager is shot in my city…or a cop, a doctor, a teacher. My point is, I for one would like to see the news get back to reporting news instead of trying so desperately to be relevant entertainment.  

And what “musical legacy”; she didn’t write songs. Unless you consider the depraved legacy of over-souling ala Carey, Blige and Aguilera a good thing, her legacy is not all that hot.

who do you think you’re talking to? You dirty mouth little jerk, your comment doesn’t make sense and who are you directing it to? I’m sick you little creeps insulting commenters because you don’t understand an intellectual conversation. . well understand this. . you’ve been reported, my parents are both dead, and I’m far from being young. . so I guess you’re wrong on all counts, especially having a brain.

who do you think you’re talking to? You dirty mouth little jerk, your comment doesn’t make sense and who are you directing it to? I’m sick you little creeps insulting commenters because you don’t understand an intellectual conversation. . well understand this. . you’ve been reported, my parents are both dead, and I’m far from being young. . so I guess you’re wrong on all counts, especially having a brain.

wilbur, you’re an old ptsd vet who doesn’t know how to do anything but insult people. . you need to learn some grammar, and spelling, and clean up your foul mouth.