I don’t begrudge CNN and the other news networks for hyping the hell out of the sudden death of Anna Nicole Smith (which, to be fair, is newsworthy). To paraphrase Chris Rock, complaining about the media giving a compulsive amount of attention to celebrity news is “like playing basketball with a retarded kid and calling him for double dribble.” Poor Wolf Blitzer, he just can’t help himself.

Where CNN (and I’m assuming some other networks as well) cross the line is the way they become involved in stories they should be covering in an objective manner. For example, CNN has turned their website into a virtual mourning grounds by collecting tributes to the former model and reprinting them. I can understand this sort of thing when the Pope or former presidents die, but why would CNN lend their site to devotional eulogies such as these :

“She died of a broken heart.”

“Watching her hurt was much to much. I pray that she has made peace with God. Bless her soul and Daniel’s.”

“Wow this is a huge shocker for me…I’m numb…I loved Anna as a person..a fighter..a mother…a partyer…a person with problems…a real tragedy…I’m sick at the news”

“May Anna Nicole find the peace in death that so evaded her in life. I have no doubt that she will become as iconic as Marilyn Monroe.”

…and these :

“I’m astonished at how sad I am about her death. I do not think I have ever said this about someone I did not know — but I will miss her.”

“Her passing is very sad and unfortunate and there will always be a unique void that will be empty since she is gone.”

“She was more like Marilyn Monroe than she thought. She had that same “lost little girl” look in her eyes. You know the old saying … the eyes are the mirror to the soul. Like Marilyn, Anna wasn’t a dumb blonde either.”

“All she wanted at the end was to be left alone, and that’s exactly what she did. She left. Alone. She will be with her son now. Bless them both.”

“She always struck me as a wounded bird that just needed the right chance to heal”

Obviously the sudden death of someone who’s been in the news as much as Anna Nicole Smith is worthy of covering, but when CNN is helping people wallow in their grief, they stop being an impartial observer reporting the facts and just become another shallow, fame-obsessed rag.