[Ammi]

What do you make of the argument? I definitely agree with it; I was annoyed by all the coverage her death was getting because I had no sympathy for her - whereas I found the Norwegian massacre deeply shocking

No one could foresee the Norwegian tragedy and it was a planned and deliberate act against the helpless, so of course the term shocking is applicable, whereas with Amy her drug and alcohol abuse have led to a not surprising end. At another time, without the tragedy in Norway, I would have expected there to be a large amount of media coverage of her death, as she had already achieved much acclaim and had more potential in the music industry, but because of other events there appears to be resentment from some for this. I wonder if this resentment and lack of sympathy would be the same if the timing was not so 'bad'. Interestingly, there is another thread about what is great about Great Britian and the fact is, being a British music talent, I find her death extremely sad and tragic, but not shocking. Someone mentioned Michael Jackson, who's lifestyle had also been criticised, so are we to assume that if he had died at say the same time as 9/11, the reaction would be 'oh well, what do you espect, move on' I don't imagine so. People we know who smoke and die of cancer, or drink and die of liver diisease, or eating disorders......they're all self inflicted, but the loss is still the same. It doesn't make them less deserving, well imo anyway.