Steve Jobs drove a Mercedes without any license plates and was never ticketed for it. Steve Jobs was a supposed deadbeat dad. Steve Jobs died at such an early age of 56.
Steve Jobs. Amy Winehouse. Michael Jackson. Heath Ledger. Anna Nicole Smith. These, among many more, are the names that reigned your television sets 24 hours, eight days a week.
While across the nation, police brutally assault protesters at Occupy Wall Street, Occupy LA, and Occupy Boston.
The death of Steve Jobs had pushed aside the coverage of the newsworthy revolutions.
Despite its historical value and extensive proximity, the “occupy” protests dropped to the back page as journalists jumped on the story of the American inventor and entrepreneur’s death caused by respiratory arrest and pancreatic cancer.
Stories about Jobs are still, nine days after his death, rising and overthrowing other news.
“He is known for his signature black turtleneck, Levi’s jeans and gray New Balance sneakers. But just how Jobs arrived at this look, isn’t as known,” journalist Nathan Olivarez-Giles said in a recent story explaining Jobs’ uniform.
Generally, it is sad when people die. Sometimes the causes of death and the loss of any other “average” person may be more tragic than the passing of a well known celebrity. These deaths normally go unnoticed.
On another spectrum, when millions die from starvation or war, deaths are almost always expected, unnoticed and under “covered” by the media.
When one celebrity dies, the media goes into a frenzy. The coverage after the passing of certain celebrities goes a bit far.
The importance of these people is understood when their death is first announced, but by day five any news report will have gone past the point of tedious.
Of course, Apple co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer worth $7 billion, revolutionized the face of technology for our generation.
Jobs still has a huge base of fans, and has accomplished monumental achievements and indubitably deserves respective coverage for everything he has done.
Without any attempts to undervalue a hero’s death, we still must question major media groups that defeat the purpose of providing factual breaking news that is current, as well as, exaggeratingly covering one topic over and over again.
“I remembered that a 24-hour network can only repeat the same few known facts a limited number of times. After that, the broadcast essentially becomes useless despite the bright yellow graphic that says breaking news,” CNN reporter Mike Courson said in a self-written incriminating article on exaggerated news coverage.
Courson recalled that Jackson’s death was breaking news on Thursday. By Sunday, though, the only thing breaking was CNN’s piggy bank of credibility.
At the same time, unlike the Jackson death, the situation in Iran was full of constantly changing news of which was being drowned out and neglected by Anderson Cooper’s discussions of the celebrity’s possible use of drugs.
We have an undeniable fascination with celebrities. However, news networks should not solely cover one topic for too long.
Updates are acceptable, when necessary. But when something else newsworthy occurs, like assaults on protesters all across the country, networks should provide appropriate coverage so the public does not have to rely solely on citizen journalism and a constantly changing live stream video.
Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Campus Times Editorial Board.