Betty Ford Center of Little Attention

OK. She's no  Michael Jackson. People will not line up to mourn on avenues around the world. But why is former first lady Betty Ford getting the Rodney Dangerfield treatment by the press following her death at the age of 93? Here is a snapshot of some of the online coverage of Ford's passing. Look closely and squint if you have to.

The most trusted source in news, or whatever CNN calls itself doesn't trust that a lot of people care about BF. She is filed under "latest news" following up the story of a fire at a Rihanna concert. The Groupon ad gets over ten times the coverage area. Shame.

MSNBC Files Betty Ford's death under "other top stories." The big picture of the day goes to Jeter. 

Surely Fox has reserved a prominent spot for a former Republican first lady, right? Well, maybe not for a Pre-Reagan Republican. Here she gets two lines of fine print on the homepage. That's something.

ABC News takes home the chicken dinner in this news derby. Ford is featured in a moving photo and a link to video coverage. This is definitely grading on the curve considering her significance. She had the shortest tenure as first lady, but one of the greatest social impacts publicly fighting breast cancer AND a booze/pill addiction. While her husband enjoyed the distinction of being the first sitting president to be lampooned on "Saturday Night Live" no one took any cheap shots at Betty Ford. As Atticus Finch might say, it would have been like killing a mockingbird.