Smith Death Brings Quiet to Neighborhood
Posted on: Thursday, 1 March 2007, 15:00 CST
By RASHA MADKOUR
HOUSTON - In the neighborhood of astronaut Lisa Nowak, parents are now able to play catch with their kids on balmy evenings. Instead of the hum of satellite trucks, they can hear birds chirping at sunset.
Families who live near the astronaut accused of attempted murder are glad to be rid of the many news crews that swarmed onto their quiet street after Nowak's arrest. And they say Anna Nicole Smith's death made it happen.
"As soon as Anna Nicole Smith died, all the media left," said Candis Silva, who lives three doors down from Nowak near NASA's Johnson Space Center.
The former Playboy playmate died Feb. 8, just days after Nowak stunned the nation by donning an astronaut's diaper and driving 900 miles to confront a woman in Orlando, Fla., she allegedly believed was competition for the affections of a space shuttle pilot.
At the height of the coverage, media vehicles lined Nowak's street. Pizza deliverers and joggers stopped to take in the spectacle, and most neighbors stayed inside to avoid questions from the mob.
Some residents posted signs on their doors shooing away reporters. After Smith's death in a Florida hotel, the attention quickly faded.
"It was getting a bit much," Bryan Lam said of the media circus that descended on his cul-de-sac.
The space agency placed Nowak, 43, on leave after she was arrested in the attempted murder and attempted kidnapping of Colleen Shipman, an Air Force captain who is dating space shuttle pilot William Oefelein.
Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz said such tabloid stories may appeal to a small slice of the population, but wall-to-wall coverage alienates viewers who want to hear about other stories.
"This tabloid obsessiveness reduces the reputation of journalism to the level of Us Weekly," Kurtz said. "It's kind of like an addict looking for a cheap fix."
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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