This is kind of an insensitive D&D topic, but since this is the D&D, here goes. I've been seeing front page photos and pages and pages of hand-wringing regarding the death of Brittany Murphy all over the internet. Conversely, I wouldn't have known about the death of Supreme Ayatollah Montazeri without spending a whole lot of time surfing the depths of news sites. So the question is, which of these death is really newsworthy? source [rquoter] Iran regime on alert following death of dissident cleric Montazeri Thousands flock to mourn 87-year-old ayatollah Threat of a security 'nightmare' for authorities Thousands of mourners are gathering in the Iranian city of Qom following the death of leading reformist cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, offering protesters a fresh rallying point for confrontation with the government. Montazeri, who died early this morning aged 87, is due to be buried at the Ma'asoumeh shrine, one of the holiest in Shia Islam, tomorrow. The event threatened to turn into a security nightmare for the authorities amid reports that thousands were travelling from as far away as Isfahan and Najafabad, Montazeri's birthplace. Reformist websites reported that the road between Tehran and Qom was clogged with motorists heading to the funeral. Riot police were deployed throughout Qom in preparation for a mass turnout of anti-government demonstrators, while security forces surrounded Montazeri's house. The reformist website Rah-e Sabz reported that some political activists had been contacted by intelligence agents and warned that they would face arrest if they tried to attend the funeral. Montazeri, who had long been banished from Iran's theocratic hierarchy, had emerged as a spiritual leader for the opposition Green Movement after denouncing last June's re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as fraudulent and the subsequent crackdown as un-Islamic. Since the poll, he had been in regular contact with the two defeated reformist candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. Once seen as heir apparent to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution, Montazeri was sidelined and defrocked in 1988 after criticising the mass execution of political prisoners. News of his death, attributed by his doctor to a combination of old age and chronic heart and prostate conditions, triggered fresh dissent on Iran's university campuses, the focal point of repeated post-election clashes between students and security forces. Noisy demonstrations were reported today at Tehran's Sharif University and at the Science and Industry University, where students held up Montazeri's picture and chanted: "Today is mourning day, the green nation is the chief mourner." Montazeri's death could hardly have come at a worse time for Iran's Islamic regime, which has sought to isolate Mousavi and Karroubi as the puppets of foreign "enemies". It came just three days into the Shia mourning month of Muharram, during which the opposition had already pledged to stage a series of demonstrations. Worse still, the seventh day of his death – a special mourning occasion in Shia Islam – will coincide with next Sunday's Ashura ceremony, marking the martyrdom at Karbala of Hossein, Shia Islam's third imam, who is regarded as a symbol of struggle against oppressive rule. Both the government and the opposition had identified this year's Ashura event as a potential flashpoint even before Montazeri's death. The ceremony has a central place in Iran's revolutionary folklore. Ashura demonstrations against the shah in 1978 are widely thought to have played a pivotal role in toppling the former monarch's regime. "This is the something the Iranian government is quite worried about," said Hossein Bastani, an Iranian analyst based in France. "On the seventh day of Ayatollah Montazeri's death, people will be gathering to commemorate him on the same day as Ashura. Iranian internet forums, websites and social networking sites are all talking about it. This will become a nightmare for the Islamic regime. Muharram for the Shias is the month of martyrdom and protest against cruel government, and at the moment inside Iran, many consider the Islamic republic to be the most cruel enemy of Islam and of the people." The regime's nervousness was evident from official pronouncements. The state news agency, Irna, announced Montazeri's death while omitting his official title of grand ayatollah, while the culture and Islamic guidance ministry told newspapers to stress his disagreements with Khomeini and ignore his political views. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – who has become the target of recent demonstrations – also stressed Montazeri's differences with Khomeini. "At the final phase of the imam's [Khomeini's] gracious life, there had been a difficult and challenging test [for Montazeri] which I hope will be covered by God's lenience," he said. Montazeri spent six years under house arrest after 1997 when he criticised Khamenei as over-powerful and questioned his qualifications as a source of religious guidance. Even after the end of his sentence, he rarely left his modest house in a quiet lane in Qom. But his views remained sharply critical. Interviewed by the Guardian in 2006, he accused the regime of encouraging people to hate religion by "misusing Islam". "From the beginning of the revolution, we have been chanting slogans of independence, liberty, Islamic republic," he said. "The complaint I have is why the slogans we have been chanting since then and are still chanting haven't been fulfilled." [/rquoter]
Well this is generating a lot of interest. If they really think this will bring back the level of protest we saw after the election, then yeah, this should be a bigger story. if not, then no, I would normally agree, but given this guy isn't the top leader in the country, the death of a us celebrity is bigger news here. even though she's not even an a-lister
If the Iranians won't meet us halfway and read about the chunky brunette from Clueless, then I see no reason to discuss this "critic of mass executions." Maybe if there was a South Park episode or Sasha Baron Cohen character based on him. At least then we could make a vid clip of him to circulate around work to the non-minority staff. Edward R. Murrow's station fired a producer for pre-empting a first run, non-sweeps episode of a procedural crime drama to announce Arafat's death. This is the world we live in.
Tough one. On the one hand, Brittany Murphy was never an important, behind-the-scenes minority leader of a country with whom we've regularly had disagreements over the past several years. On the other hand, I've never wanted to ---- Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. I dunno. A toss-up? (Oh yeah, Montazeri is still on the front page of the NY Times website, though, granted, one spot below Brittany Murphy. So, even in death, he's got that going for him.)
LOL, didn't Jacko's death shut down (through traffic) the Iran protestors' Twitter campaign? Hollywood is out to get Iranian freedom...
People generally watch more motion pictures than they read literature now. You can watch 2 hours screen time of Brittany Murphy and her image will be imprinted, more than Ayatollah Montazeri who's image you might see for a lifetime total of 2 minutes. You'd have to choose to read about Ayatollah Montazeri and Iranian issues on your own time, after its presented in a short snippet in the news. Thats if you watch the news or read news publications to begin with. Thats the consumer end. Journalists presenting the stories should have higher standards. Though it'll come at a financial loss for them. Present, inform and educate? Or give the audience what they want?
As usual, the biased western media. When a puppet of their own dies like Muntazari, who supported MKO terrorists in the early 80's, they make lots of noise.
Ah, to be young and stupid. So, he was a western stooge, and was plotting to overthrow the government while he was working as a member of Revolutionary Council and Ayatollah Khomeini's deputy? Was this before or after the Assembly of Experts designated him as Khomeini's successor? Was the Supreme Leader working to overthrow himself? And the whole point of the thread is that the "biased western media" is ignoring it. But hey, why let facts get in the way of your chance to talk big and play at being a committed revolutionary?
The question wasn't which death was sadder. The question was which death was more newsworthy. Do you really believe that every death in the world should be treated the same in terms of media coverage?
My exact thought also. I care about Murphy's death just as much as I care about a poor starving child in a 3rd world nation.
You may care about it the same but the consequences of someone's death may be greater or lesser depending upon their circumstances. For instance the death of 19 9/11 hijackers had greater consequence than the death of 19 cancer patients in a hospice on the same day.
Actually watch the Daily Show. Iranian people for the most part know more about our country than we do. It's sad because as Americans with the highest access to information, the most of us choose to be ignorant to the world around us.
