Celebrity deaths had heavy impact in 2009

The recent passing of actress Brittany Murphy adds another high-profile name to the list of those who have died in 2009.
The year seems to have been filled with an inordinate amount of high-profile deaths -- some even on the same day.
Among those who passed away: Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Natasha Richardson, Bea Arthur, David Carradine and Patrick Swayze.
Authors John Updike, Frank McCourt and Dominick Dunne died, as did blues legend Koko Taylor, Ventures guitarist Bob Bogle, Mary Travers of Peter, Paul & Mary, guitar innovator Les Paul and Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein.
But was 2009 any more notable for celebrity deaths than other years? Or, in our hyper-caffeinated, overly Twittered culture, is there simply more awareness?
Adam Bernstein, editor for The Washington Post's obituary section, believes the latter. He said he believes the perception of the mass mortality of stars is driven by the overwhelming amount of attention paid to the deaths of even minor celebrities.
"Brittany Murphy is far from the most accomplished of actresses, but because she has attracted a following -- mostly from younger people who are probably shocked, of course, at her death at the age of 32 -- it becomes a big deal online," he said. "And that drives a lot of attention from newspapers, including ours, which went nuts with her death.”
Social networking sites like Twitter are helping to drive the interest, Bernstein said, as people tweet about it and "the immediacy of the death suddenly becomes hot ratings online.”