Whitney Houston

While surfing CNN.com and Al Jazeera English, I discovered two articles on the recent death of Whitney Houston. After reading both articles, I did not notice any political or international bias, but I did notice how both companies focused on different topics. There was a variety of similarities and differences between the pieces.

The Al Jazeera article placed a big emphasis on her career and success rather than her actual death. Statements about the Grammies and other famous American stars were mentioned before her drug addiction. The Middle East uses elements of the Social Responsibility theory, so the press is responsible for providing entertainment through the media. This may be while Al Jazeera highlighted different facts compared to CNN.

CNN dove right into the death and possible causes. They were also able to interview someone that was with Whitney Houston the day/night before she was found dead. The witness claimed that the singer was happy prior to this tragic event and showed no signs of being distraught. Al Jazeera did not have any of this information in their article.

While reading the CNN article about Whitney Houston, I noticed it was much longer. Since Americans are more familiar with this singer, it’s important to cover all aspects of the death in order to answer as many questions as possible to keep the reader engaged. I also noticed that an abundance of people left comments, positive and negative, after the article on CNN.com. Al Jazeera did not publically display any remarks about the article on their site.

Both articles stated that they were not ruling out any cause of death. ‘Family’ was also discussed in both articles; however, it was not the same family. CNN provided viewers with statements about Whitey Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown.  The article discussed how upset she was and how she was in the hospital after her mother’s death. When Al Jazeera discussed ‘family,’ they talked about her singing family. Apparently a quote from LL Cool J is more vital than a quote from a family member.

Al Jazeera placed a greater emphasis on the fame of Whitney Houston and other celebrities because that is what they can relate to. Since television is heavily regulated in the Middle East and little audience research has been done, this was the way they decided to sway their article.