Heath's Death: The Meta-Coverage

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January 25, 2008 | 12:07 p.m

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The death of Heath Ledger is so ubiquitous that apparently it's news when some journalists opt out of the gossip cycle.

Gossip Web site justjared.com posted an item that says a couple TV personalities refuse to cover each and every Ledger development. Star Jones blogged on the Huffington Post that media focus should be on Mr. Ledger's talent instead of his demise. And last night on his CNN blog, Anderson Cooper wrote:

"The full results of the various tests done on Mr. Ledger will not be ready for perhaps a few weeks and there is very little new information. I have no doubt other networks will spend a lot of time tonight discussing his death and the various rumors about what might have caused it, but I am not a fan of speculation, so unless there is something really new to discuss we probably won't be covering it anymore anytime soon."

Mr. Cooper has a point—though he does not avoid the topic altogether, seeing as he used his blog to voice his aversion to talking about Ledger on TV. Mr. Anderson, media are merging!

Covering the coverage of eschewing coverage—are you following?—however, may undermine what Mr. Cooper and Ms. Jones are trying to do. D'oh!