National Enquirer Whitney Houston’s death coverage sparks controversy

The National Enquirer angered Whitney Houston fans Wednesday and instigated a deeper debate on the coverage of her death after publishing a photo purportedly showing the singer in a gold casket. The cover photo was taken during the funeral in New Jersey, the tabloid claims, and has been republished by other media outlets, including Jezebel and Fox411, Sarah Anne Hughes of Celebritology reports:

It’s not known how the Enquirer obtained the photo. Requests for comment from Houston’s publicist and Whigham Funeral Home have not been returned.

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Even without verification, the photo is shocking and disturbing. But it’s not surprising that it has been published.

The Enquirer published a photo of Elvis Presley in his casket on its cover in 1977. The issue sold 6.5 million copies, according to the Sun-Sentinel. More recently, a photo of Michael Jackson’s lifeless body was shown during the trial of doctor Conrad Murray . It was then republished in the media.

Despite the precedent set in the Presley case, Hughes believes a line has been crossed:

It seems highly unethical to me to publish a photo of this nature in the first place, but especially without permission from the person’s family. That seems to be the consensus on Twitter as well. But where should the line be drawn to begin with?

Houston’s funeral, held Saturday at a Newark church, was live streamed by the Associated Press with permission from the family. Celebritology embedded the live stream and then wrote posts about the service.

CNN, one of the cable networks to broadcast the funeral, averaged 5 million viewers during the 3 ¹ / ₂-hour period when it took place, according to the New York Times. The AP’s stream had nearly 2 million unique visitors. Clearly, there was a demand to watch it.

The BBC was forced to defend its decision to cover the funeral service after it received 34 complaints, saying  “it reflected the significant interest in her sudden death as well as acknowledging the impact she had as a global recording artist.”

Other media organizations have also caught flak for their coverage and commentary surrounding Houston’s death, says Emily Yahr of The TV Column:

Bill O’Reilly was in the headlines last week when he faced off with Matt Lauer over Whitney Houston’s death (O’Reilly said the singer “wanted to kill herself” while Lauer pointed out that addiction is a disease).

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie likewise had to defend his decision to lower the state’s flags to half-staff, the Associated Press reports:

A western Michigan man whose son was killed while serving in the military has burned a replica of New Jersey’s flag to protest that state’s decision to lower it in honor of performer Whitney Houston.

John Burri set the flag on fire Saturday on a grill outside his home in Wyoming, near Grand Rapids.

The 60-year-old Burri says lowering flags should be done for men and women who have given their lives in service to the United States.

More on the death of Whitney Houston:

Aretha Franklin remembers goddaughter Whitney Houston in show at Radio City Music Hall in NYC

Bobby Brown briefly appears at funeral for ex-wife Whitney Houston in NJ

Celebritology 2.0 : National Enquirer publishes photo claimed to be Houston in casket

Franklin says Houston's mother raised her well, says 'Today' remark taken out of context

Whitney Houston items up for auction

Father of Mich. soldier killed in Iraq burns NJ flag to protest lowering for Whitney Houston