The tabloid press can struggle with journalistic ethics surrounding intrusion into grief at the best of times. With the death of Houston they faced two further tests; writing respectfully about women and responsibly reporting drug addiction. On both counts I think they've failed. Much like the case of Amy Winehouse, the reason for her death was considered a given before any official statement was made. "Once an addict, always an addict". It's a lazy and inaccurate portrayal of addiction but one all too often taken up by the popular press.
The existence of the internet means that people will publish what they want when they want to. If we enforce restrictions on what we can publish in this country, people will write online blogs and write for foreign publications. If our most reliable UK sources are choked off, people will be forced to rely on publications that are less reputable, and perhaps even illegal.
Truly, this relationship has damaged our governance. It has infected every Party and made it ever more difficult to make complex but essential arguments on behalf of those unable to defend themselves against the mob. The tabloid press, its campaigns, its lack of ethics, its use of emotive rhetoric to advance its causes and its influence on government has changed our democracy for the worse. It is the responsibility of all political Parties, not just the government of the day, to turn their back on cheap tabloid headlines and act, for once, in the public interest.