Will Coverage of Smith Death Be Larger Than Life?

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STEVE INSKEEP, host:

A Web site called The Daily Truth began its coverage last night with the following sentence: News anchors are planting vaguely heartbroken looks on their faces. Unusually snarky Web sites are coming over all teardrops and sniffles as they broadcast the news that Anna Nicole Smith has died. The Web site's own reporting seemed vaguely heartbroken and incidentally still snarky.

For years, celebrity magazines and TV networks seized every chance to cover a model and actress who seemed to sense the absurdity of her own celebrity.

Ms. ANNA NICOLE SMITH (Former Playboy Playmate): I buy gowns. They're like $30,000. And you've got to buy gowns. You've got to buy shoes. You've got to pay hair and makeup. I mean it's very expensive to be me. I mean, it's terrible.

INSKEEP: Anna Nicole Smith died yesterday after collapsing at a hotel and casino. The medical examiner's office in Hollywood, Florida, says an autopsy will determine the cause of her death. We can expect every detail of that investigation to be as closely followed as the details of her outsized life.

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