Dying for Attention

The dying, now dead, Tammy Faye Bakker, appeared on Larry King's show, prompting Blogcritics' Matthew Milam to say what I was thinking. His piece is titled, "If I Was Ill, The Last Place I'd Want To Be Is On Larry King Live", and he writes, "...I probably don't understand that this is television news. They will do what they can do to get ratings and forget the common sense and dignity that should occur to journalists in the media who see a woman like this, solely in order to be in the history books. Who knows, perhaps it's a good thing. But let me turn to those who have probably seen this interview or have someone who is suffering from lung cancer and is somewhere around the stage that Tammy is: would you let someone you know go on television and be interviewed if the person was that ill?" Well, since everyone lives their lives, and now even dies, on TV, I'm not surprised, just disgusted. And I wasn't surprised either to learn that a German TV channel will devote itself entirely to death and dying: "There are shows for cooking, relationships, weddings and property -- why not for dying? A new TV channel in Germany plans to rectify the omission with 24/7 digital death." What has happened to decency, respect, modesty, and dignity in our culture? These qualities have now gone the way of Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, Larry King, and the various TV freak shows.