Forever 27

Jimi Hendrix
The Medium is the Message: Comparing Death Announcements

Real Name: James Marshall Hendrix (Born Johnny Allen Hendrix)

Born: Nov. 27, 1942

Died: Sept.18, 1970

Jimi Hendrix is an icon. He is an influential musician of his era and has also been considered the greatest electric guitarist of all time. He is a self-taught musician, well-known for his ununsual guitar sounds and his bold fashion sense. He also is one of the many musicians whose life was cut short at a young age. Jimi Hendrix death at 27, includes him in the 27 Club (or Forever 27 Club), along with Brian Jones (Rolling Stones founder and guitarist), Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain. 

I have included a video of a news reporter announcing the death of Jimi Hendrix in order to give you a sense of how a death was handled in 1970.          

                           
                                                The Death of Jimi Hendrix
                                                         Sept. 18, 1970

It is interesting to watch a video from this era and to compare it to how we are beginning to receive our news now. If an pop icon died today, we would probably turn to the internet, facebook or twitter for information because it is more immediate than a newspaper or television report.

A great example is an article discussing how facebook handled the death of Michael Jackson. I first found out about MJ's death through facebook and I know I'm not alone on this one. The article discusses that the immediacy of facebook and how it was problematic following Michael Jackson's death. Instead of a reporter unveiling the news, people on facebook were writing disrespectful messages immediately following Michael Jackson's death.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-hollywood-ham/michael-jackson-dead-face_b_221170.html

Let me know if you have any opinions (positive or negative), on how facebook is changing the way we receive our news.

Thanks,

Love: Danielle