SPE 212 Blog #2

This weekend Whitney Houston passed away. Houston was a world known singer and released her debut album in February of 1985. She was known for her powerful voice but also her struggle with drug addictions. When I found out about Houston’s sudden death I knew it would be an interesting topic for my blog post.

When I first heard the news I went on CNN.com where they explained that Houston was only forty-eight years old and it was still unsure what the cause of death may be. As I continued reading CNN quoted Kelly Price who sang with Houston at a pre-Grammy party just two days before Houston died. The article made it sound like Houston was in good spirits and there was no sign of illness. CNN did a good job making everyone remember Whitney Houston in a positive way and not for her bad habits she also may be known for. CNN listed some of Houston’s awards and achievements and discussed how successful she was. Officials are still not sure what happened and it may take a few weeks for the toxicology results to come in. The only fact that CNN released was that Houston was found around an hour after she died in a bath tub at the Beverly Hilton hotel on Saturday afternoon. The article then discussed all the positive support that has begun since her death was announced. Singers and songwriters including Celine Dion, and LL Cool J, who was the host of the Grammys and many more, gave their condolences to the Houston family.

On Al Jazeera.com the story started by saying that U.S. singer Whitney Houston died in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and there were no signs of trauma or foul play. The article then discussed how Houston’s fans are mourning her death. It was said that people from her Newark, New Jersey where Houston was from to Beverly Hills, California are all paying tribute to her. Then the story discussed the Grammys Sunday night and how LL Cool J brought up Houston’s death at the opening of the award show by saying a prayer for Houston.

Both CNN and Al Jazeera commented on Whitney Houston’s death but they were very different articles to say the least. CNN was a lot more thorough and had more information about Houston. They discussed what happened from the Grammys, to how Houston’s family is doing. Al Jazeera’s article was to the point and did not talk as much about Houston’s success and how talented she was as a singer. I do not believe this is considered international or political bias because in the U.S. we are bound to be more interest in Houston’s death than people across the world reading Al Jazeera. This is also why I believe Al Jazeera didn’t have as much information and why the story was much shorter. Although, there were a few similarities I came across. Some of which were how Houston supposedly died and basic information like how old she was and her location of the tragedy.  It was very interesting to compare and contrast CNN and Al Jazeera as they covered Whitney Houston and her death this past weekend.

Overall, I believe CNN did a better job because they gave the most information but both news organizations got the story out and accurately (or as accurate they can for the time being). People who read Al Jazeera on a normal basis are probably just fine with knowing the information they reported on Houston’s death. And the people, who read CNN like myself, are most likely pleased with the information they reported on this surprising incident.

After discussing globalization in class it is intriguing to think about these two types of news organizations. I believe CNN and Al Jazeera did their job well. Even though both organizations are across the world from each other in distance they both made sure the news got out of Houston’s death rather quickly and everyone who reads each of these stories will know the latest information. I find it fascinating how fast news can travel around the world and now I see how globalization plays a role in it.