Media pays tribute to the life and death of reality TV star Jade Goody

LONDON - The media, prime minister Gordon Brown, David Cameron and a host of celebrities have paid tribute to the ultimate reality TV star Jade Goody, who died yesterday from cervical cancer after an illness that had been covered in minute detail by the press.

The 27 year old, who lived her life in the spotlight after finding fame in the third series of 'Big Brother', died shortly after 3am on Mothering Sunday.

In her final weeks Goody generated hundreds of thousands of pounds through media deals to create a trust fund to pay for her two sons, Bobby and Freddie, to be privately educated.

Footage of her wedding to Jack Tweed four weeks ago was aired on a Living TV programme and pulled in the channel's highest audience to date.

Her funeral will also be a public affair with giant screens televising proceedings inside the church to thousands of fans outside.

The tabloids have paid tribute with pages of coverage and pull-out supplements including comments from politicians, celebrities, friends and publicist-in-chief Max Clifford.

The Daily Mirror contains an eight-page "tribute to an extraordinary life" with the headline "Mummy's in heaven" and a picture of Goody with her two sons, Bobby and Freddie.

Inside coverage includes a pull-out supplement, a double page spread about her legacy, the increased awareness of cervical cancer, and some thoughts from Clifford.

The Sun carries the headline "At peace on mother's day" and includes 10 pages of coverage, which features Stephen Fry's description of Goody as "Princess Diana from the wrong side of the tracks". In addition it has a 16-page supplement covering Goody's life.

The Sun also features a column by prime minister Gordon Brown, who paid a tribute, focusing on her work raising awareness of cervical cancer.

Brown said: "Her family can be extremely proud of the work she has done to raise awareness of cervical cancer which will benefit thousands of women across the UK."

David Cameron said: "Her brave fight has raised awareness of this terrible disease. Her legacy will be to save young women in the future."

The Daily Mail contains four pages of coverage with the headline "Mummy's gone to heaven, boys" and a list of classic sayings from Goody including: "Have they got seasides in Birmingham?" and "Where's East Angular though? I thought that was abroad."

The broadsheets did not ignore the story although their coverage is considerably slighter reflecting the fact that the reality star's life was fuelled by the tabloid and celebrity press as witnessed in its starkest form last week when

The Times kept its coverage down to a half page story on page five with a feature in T2.

The Telegraph also featured half a page with the headline "Goody dies as she had lived: in the spotlight". It focused on the reaction to her death, with a box-out about young women looking for information from cancer charities.

The coverage includes a quote from 'Gavin and Stacey' star Mathew Horne who said: "A charming, kind girl, manipulated and deceived by many."

The Guardian ran the story as front page news, pointing out the double standards of some of its tabloid rivals who have referred to her in the past as Miss Piggy.

It also ran a double page spread charting Goody's rise to fame, her illness and the positive effect it has had on the numbers of women going for cervical screening.

Goody's publicist Max Clifford said: "She died as she lived, in the public eye. It was her way of handling it."

The Independent had a two-page spread for Goody on pages six and seven, featuring a short editorial on the now high-profile awareness of cervical cancer screening, and then a larger editorial defending her embattled life. It also included a full-page obituary on page 33.

Goody's death also made it into the Financial Times with a story on page four with the headline "Reality TV as a matter of life and death" in reference to the Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger film starring David Niven.

Read more about Jade Goody on Brand Republic:


Tributes to Jade Goody on today's front covers

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