Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston's death has been felt all across the Internet. Everyone seems to be tweeting, blogging, and commenting on the singer's passing. When I looked to CNN and Al Jazeera for their stories on the subject, I found them to be quite different from each other.

CNN's article focused on Houston's rise to fame, talking about her childhood and being signed by Clive Davis at the age of twenty. The article also talks about her hit songs, her movie career, and her decline in the music world as the result of drug abuse.

Al Jazeera's story covered the days leading up to her death. The article quotes people saying that Houston's group were loud partiers at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where the Grammys were being held on Sunday. The article doesn't even mention specific songs that Houston sang. Instead, the writers centered on Houston's struggle with drugs and her would-be comeback had it not been for weak live performances and cancelled shows.

Interestingly, both articles include videos at the top of their pages. CNN's video shows a phone interview with Simon Cowell. Cowell talks to Piers Morgan of Piers Morgan Tonight about his complete shock over Houston's death and says that she was one of the best performers ever. Cowell also says that Houston was a delight on The X-Factor back in 2009 when she performed a song off her latest album. The video doesn't add much to the written article, and even seems a bit unrelated since the video feels more focused on Simon Cowell's opinion than Houston herself. It does make sense for CNN to use its own show in the video, but they lost out on a chance for synergy since Simon Cowell isn't associated with the network. Perhaps somebody associated with Time Warner would have made more sense.

The Al Jazeera video plays clips from various Whitney Houston music videos. There is a voice over by Charles Stratford of Al Jazeera who's explaining Houston's popularity and highly publicized marriage with Bobby Brown and her addiction to drugs. I liked this video over the CNN one since it actually showed Houston's singing talent and was centered on her instead of an irrelevant celebrity.

Both CNN and Al Jazeera started their written articles by stating where and when Houston died. They also covered much of the same topics, including Houston's problem with drugs and attempt at a comeback in 2009. They also include quotes, but CNN quotes music celebrities while Al Jazeera quotes their correspondent and an entertainment journalist. I found it fitting that CNN and Al Jazeera reported without having any bias, since there was no reason to add any politics or network propaganda while reporting about the death of a musician.

No matter who covers the story, the death of Whitney Houston resonates with everyone.

Links
CNN article
Al Jazeera article