Have I just not been paying attention or has Havel’s death and funeral been under reported?
I'd say it's been underreported. But given the fact he was anti-communist, in the world media's collective eye, that was a major point against him.
I think the latter. Our media aren't very interested in highlighting the accomplishments of a champion of liberty. I'm not a Clinton fan, but I think I'd rather have us represented at the state funeral by them than by the perpetually vacationing first couple.
Kremlin conspicuously silent over Václav Havel’s death - December 19, 2011 - Neither Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, nor the country’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, nor Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has commented on the death of the first Czech President Václav Havel. In sharp contrast, Medvedev was quick to send his condolences to North Korea following news of the death of Kim Jong-il.
In the Russian state-controlled media there was scant mention of Havel’s passing. Just 28 seconds of the evening news on Russia’s First Chanel (Pervyi kanal, 1tv.ru) were dedicated to the news of his death, while Rossiskaya Gazeta, the official daily of the Russian government, carried a few formal lines without any comment from public figures, Russian or foreign.
Václav Havel slams undemocratic Russian regime - September 12, 2011 - Havel has described the current Russian regime as the harshest of all known forms of post-communist political systems, calling it a “specific combination of old stereo types and a new business-mafia environment.”
“There can be no talk of democracy as long as the leaders of the state insult the dignity of citizens, control the judiciary, the mass media and manipulate election results,” Havel wrote in Novaya gazeta, which has seen at least seven of its journalists and contributors killed since 2001, including Anna Politkovskaya and Anastasia Baburova.
“The opposition should appeal to fellow citizens who through personal experience in the West have seen that democratic freedoms work, and call upon them to remember their roots and support the development of a civil society in their homeland,” Havel concludes.
I've heard a great deal more about that murdering monster Kim Jung-Il on the news than about Havel's life and death and his struggle to free his country from communism.
Anyone who lived their lives combating communism and socialism will be ignored by the media in their death. US media = PRAVDA = LIARS.