I have covered this on A Tangled Web but wanted to post it here as well.
It’s a sad story.
British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has been found dead at his home. The poor chap, a doyen in the fashion world, was only 40 years old. His mother died last week.
Here’s the issue.
The BBC report on it here. He died. Just like that, seemingly.
However, as is reported elsewhere, he committed suicide. He hanged himself.
A terrible waste of his life but I wonder WHY the BBC seemed determined to avoid this simple detail? Were they trying to spare the feelings of the family? If so, why is such censorship not afforded to others in such circumstances? Might his gay background be in any way linked to this sudden BBC reluctance to report the facts? I don’t see the issue for the BBC withholding the reason for his death, can you?
I’ve done so, thank you. Since you didn’t notice it, the BBC article mentions possible suicide in its third paragraph. The Telegraph article you refer to gives no such mention. In fact, you seem to be getting your news from an over-eager gossip website…
Not BBC, but Channel 4 news at 7 ran this as the lead story lasting for a stunningly boring 16 minutes.
Maybe legal reasons why possible causes of death can’t be referred to, but why is this a big news story ? At the end of the day, he was only a fashion designer, a trivial occupation.
DV — the link shows that the BBC report has been amended to report on the possibility of suicide.
Clearly the guy loved his mum very much. An admirable quality.
Michael
It’s in the headline of the Telegraph report. The BBC, eventually, have it in the third paragraph.
Jack
I agree. It’s not him I have an issue with, it’s the way in which the BBC was overtly coy about this for the first few hours!
I’ve never heard of him, I guess if you don’t ‘flounce’ you wouldn’t know or care that much.
I can’t see why the BBC feels the need to make this the main story when we hear today that the body count in Afghanistan is on it’s way up again and we’ve got hundreds (if not thousands) of soldiers going aroun diwt harms and legs missing. But I guess some camp hairdresser is more important.
Martin
Yes, the story was given huge prominence. I am sorry he has taken his life but I suppose in an era of celebrity, then celeb suicide is what constitutes news on the BBC.
I’m not sorry. I couldn’t give a shit. Only pussies and communists design clothes. Real men design and build weapons systems.
Yes, I’d never heard of him and couldn’t figure out why such a huge chunk of PM was given over to his death.
Slow news day. Only the EU on brink of monetary meltdown. Move along, folks …….
he loved his mum
but he also loved a bit of the bum as well
Thank you for your reasoned contribution to the discussion.
The BBC a little vague, what like they how they were equally sketchy with Stephen Gateley’s death.
Yes, the BBC doesn’t include all the facts in the first two paragraphs, choosing instead to assume that its readers are intelligent enough to read more of the story.
Clearly their assumptions are awry in some cases.
Martin: “I’ve never heard of him”
Not entirely sure Martin’s sphere of reference is a particularly wise choice in determining what the BBC should and shouldn’t cover — even if limiting coverage to “things Martin knows about” would save a lot of licence payers’ money, limiting news programmes to three minutes every other month…