KETV (Cox Channel 9) News Director Rose Ann Shannon is the author of this month's "Profiles in Journalism" feature in March issue of the Omaha Press Club newsletter.
Shannon poses the question of whether the death of Anna Nicole Smith was a "big news story."
You really don't have to tell me what you think," Shannon writes. "I have a pretty good idea. It used to be when somebody told you they only watched public television or 'MacNeil /Lehrer NewsHour' or 'the Hallmark Hall of Fame,' you pretty much had to take them at their word. Not anymore. That was before the Internet -- before you had the ability to choose what your own personal newscast or newspaper would look like."
Shannon relates her personal experience of the afternoon when The Associated Press sent a news alert that Smith had died.
"I relayed the news to a couple of people in the newsroom," Shannon writes. "I saw jaws drop. Let me say that again: I saw jaws drop. It is not often as a journalist you can report something that causes jaws to drop. In fact, I may be able to count those moments on one hand."
To read more of "Profiles in Journalism: What's News? You Decide," click here and scroll to page 3.
