Ever since the sad news [1] of Senator Ted Kennedy's brain tumor diagnosis broke, I've been seeing a barrage of news coverage that seems pretty postmortem. Article topics include:

• Boston contemplates life after Ted Kennedy [2]
• Many possible successors to Kennedy [3]
• A timeline of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's life [4]

The coverage makes me think media companies are rolling out their prefabricated eulogies [5] a little too soon. In fact, if someone wasn't paying close attention, they might assume the Senator already died!

Are these reports an honor to Senator Kennedy, or disrespectful? Since he did just receive a very serious diagnosis, should the country take the opportunity to celebrate all of his achievements while he is still alive? Should the media adopt a more hopeful and positive outlook in order to support Kennedy's efforts to battle the tumor?

Source [6]