Whitney Houston died?

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by Silver Springs

I can't believe I'm the only one who finds it sick. Surely not. I mean.... money is being exchanged for the privilege of covering what should be a private, intimate event. Nobody should be earning from a tragedy, no matter how it's dressed up as a "gift to the fans".

It's not any more or less "sick" than any other funeral for a high profile individual. Whenever heads of state have died (or royalty), their funerals have been broadcast. Their coffins are even dragged along on horse-drawn carriages. Although I think it is a little bit tacky to have a funeral in a sports arena (like Michael Jackson), I think it's rather touching that Whitney will be memorialized in the very church where she came of age. And the fans will want the closure that comes with attending a funeral, even if it's in the virtual sense. If the Houson family is making any money off the broadcast (I don't know if they are), then good for them. I'm sure the funeral will be costly, and from what I've read, Whitney was just about broke and was borrowing money from her record company towards the end of her life.