Heath Ledger Dies at Age 28: Coverage of Death is Vastly Different Than Coverage of Last Week's Death of Brad Renfro

Actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his apartment yesterday.

And I couldn't help but notice the difference in coverage between his death and the death of Brad Renfro last week. All of the news networks devoted a great deal of time to Ledger's death--often simultaneously. They've largely ignored the Renfro story.

But both stories pale in comparison to the death one year ago of Anna Nicole Smith and the subsequent legal proceedings pertaining to Smith's baby daughter and the courtroom antics of the crybaby judge.

It's hard to predict how/how much the media's going to cover the loss of celebrities.