In the wake of the recent, sudden and tragic deaths of young actors Brad Renfro and Heath Ledger much is being made of the obituary that The Associated Press has prepared for Britney Spears.
I’m sure you have noticed that whenever a famous person dies after living a long and distinguished life, major news organizations almost instantaneously come out with detailed obituaries highlighting all aspects of their lives. What you might not know is that many of those stories are produced well in advance of a star’s passing.
This was not the case in the deaths of Brad Renfro and Heath Ledger. (That’s why it took a while for detailed obits of the actors to be published.)
According to the Washington Post, of the approximately 100 prepared obituaries the paper currently has in its files, editors say they can’t recall having any on a person under 30.
Which is why when The Associated Press confirmed last week that it had already prepared an obituary for 26-year-old Spears it made headlines in various publications. It also started a debate regarding the business of reporting deaths especially when it involves young Hollywood stars whose lifestyles are less than exemplary and who place themselves in dangerous situations time and time again.
Last week, prior to Renfro and Ledger’s deaths one TV critic raised the question of whether it was time for more news organizations to begin preparing early obits for Tinseltown’s under-30 crowd?
A few days ago a reporter from the Washington Post had this answer:
“It’s a complex issue, a complex debate. 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?”
The Los Angeles Times says no. The paper says it has approximately 400 prepared obits and Britney Spears’ is not among them.
Newspaper managers say their obit writers spend their days preparing reports on much older newsmakers.
“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,” the paper’s obituary editor said.
Which is not to say that the paper hasn’t done prep work on “high risk” young celebrities. But editors note that 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. The paper listed Robert Downey Jr. and Courtney Love as two prime examples of once troubled stars who appear to be working through their rough times.
As for The Associated Press’ revelation that they have prepared Spears’ obit, the news organization says it did so as a result of being ill prepared for the sudden death of Anna Nicole Smith. When the former Playboy Playmate was found dead in a Florida hotel room, the AP did not have a prepared obituary. (Meanwhile, the Washington Post and numerous other newspapers put her obituary on their front pages.) Neither did it have one on Renfro, the 25-year-old actor who died last week.
Associated Press editors say Smith’s death served as a “wake-up call” to be prepared to report immediately on any high-profile person with a public history of troubled behavior. Currently, The Associated Press has approximately 1,000 prepared obituaries in its files on a wide variety of public figures, most of which are people over 70.
But now the world knows that the AP is prepared should Spears tragically meet her demise prior to turning 30. Personally, I don’t think it’s such a bad idea.
What do make of the obituary debate?