THE INFORMATION reached our newsroom on Thursday afternoon. An entertainment reporter who had heard some "rumours" called his editor who then alerted me. I forwarded the sketchy details to the crime editor of our media group. He didn't have a clue at that time, but after hanging up he and his counterparts around the world would be totally busy with one of the day's biggest stories - American actor David Carradine had been found dead in Bangkok. Professionalism dictated that we could not ignore the tip-off. Yet we cannot escape the responsibility for the fact that most people will now remember how Carradine died instead of how he lived. We are part of a cruel world that the actor, even in death, cannot bid farewell to, because this world is making it difficult for him to rest in peace.

The swift, spontaneous reaction of the cyberspace did not make things easier. As soon as we broke the news on the website, the story was forwarded, blogged about and tweetered in a worldwide frenzy. Thai-language news websites did their reporting in their own sensational way, and, within hours, details that we cautiously held back were out there for all to read.

continued at http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/rea...d=stoppage+time

-- The Nation 10/06/09

Momma warned me about this.