Jade Goody: death as entertainment...

Jade Goody has died. Move along now, there's nothing more to see. Unless you count her grief-stricken relatives and "grieving" crowds, but you always get them with the death of a public figure. The fascinating spectacle of a young woman dying on camera is over.

And it was fascinating, judging by the "most read" lists on newspaper websites. Millions of people who would be ashamed to be caught rubbernecking at the scene of a car crash found themselves clicking on links and turning on the news "to see how Jade is doing" (ie, to see how bad her cancer had got). And they didn't feel guilty, because the victim of this particular car crash was leaning out of the wreckage and beckoning them in. More...

See also:

1. Do we need this sort of "entertainment?"
2. Afghanistan's "Pop Idol" Afghan Star stirs up passion...
3. Polish guy kills himself "live" on the Internet...
4. Biggs webcam suicide and the moral implications...
5. China: onlookers taunt suicidal man to kill himself...