I don't get it...

[sleigh]

There is no news today, according to CNN or MSNBC or even Faux News.  At least not unless you're talking about Michael Jackson.  CNN is 24/7 MJ today.  Even the online site is saturated with it.  At 2:00 PM, here are the top seven 'stories' on their front page -- the banner headline is, naturally, "FAREWELL TO THE KING OF POP"

• Fans across country to mourn Jackson 4 min
• Fans assemble for Jackson Memorial
• L.A. wants help paying for Jackson memorial
• iReport.com: How are you honoring MJ today?
• Time: Places to go to honor Michael Jackson
• Web braces for Michael Jackson onslaught
• Ticker: Obama pays his respects to MJ

I don't get it.  Look, I agree that MJ was a talented entertainer.  Yes, he had millions of fans.  Yes, he was an intriguing character with some glaring and 'interesting' flaws.  But he's been dead for twelve days now, and the onslaught of MJ stories and specials has yet to abate.  Am I simply not remembering the same thing happening when John Lennon was shot, or when Elvis died on the crapper?  Did the media go this bonkers over them too?

There are tons of stories out there going begging for attention:  the unrest in western China, where even the state-run news outlets are admitting to over a hundred deaths; the just-signed treaty with Russia; the continuing war in Afghanistan; the clerics (including Ayatollahs Montazeri and Sanei) coming out for Mousavi in the Iranian election against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Council of Guardians; the weirdness of the coup in Honduras, with the ousted president circling the airport trying to land...  Heck, even Palin's strange and mysterious resignation.  

Sure, give us an 'update' on Jackson once an hour or so.  But hey, let's have some actual news.  Y'know, stuff that has to do with real life, not the passing of a pop star, even one who's arguably an icon.

This has been a curmudgeonly rant.  You may now return to watching the MJ memorial service.

Comments

[jonhansen.livejournal.com]

Hey, I heard Al Franken got sworn into his Senate seat today.

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

Bread and circuses, my friend, bread and circuses :)

all MJ all the time

[jdonat.livejournal.com]

It's easy. There are thousands of hours of film/video available to the stations. They can run all this stuff, and not have to expend anything on it. Same with the video trucks -they already have them, and are paying for the techs -probably not much additional $$ cost to the stations. Dealing with Iran is complicated -you have to have 'experts' on the shows, which is additional $$, and satellite time to the Middle East, and such. Dealing with China -most of the folks that are my friends would have some idea of what's going on, but most of the rest of the US? not likely. And, with both those issues, there's danger involved! And, they may have to do REAL journalism!

And, I'm afraid, there is probably an issue of "if we don't carry MJ all the time, someone with their own agenda will brand us as racist, cause we're ignoring a black person's funeral". Not politically correct, but I'd bet that this is a consideration to the lily livered, lazy pukes running media outlets.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I cracked up when I saw one of BadBanana (http://twitter.com/badbanana)'s tweets: "Things getting serious. A beautiful rendition of “Ave Maria” on flute by Bubbles the chimp."

(I love BadBanana (http://twitter.com/badbanana). Really, click on the link and read what else he has to say about the service. It's hilarious.)

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall that the news was full of John Lennon when he was killed, but that could easily have been because:

a) I was a fan and paying attention to it
b) I was only twelve, so didn't pay much attention to other news
c) I was in New York, so it was a "local" story as well as an international one

But yeah, right there with you on the MJ thing.

Once again, I am grateful for the internet. It is possible to get other news if you are willing to go look for it. I shudder to think what we would become if we only had TV to go by.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

We're being force-fed "bread and circuses". Actually having an informed electorate would be a disadvantage for the oligarchy.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

I dunno, Peg... I went and looked, and it bothered me. I'm not an MJ fan, but feels more like he's mocking Jackson's death and not just parodying the service. It goes over the good taste line for me.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Saw that on Google news (though their headline is also MJ). Nothing about it yet on CNN or NYT.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Indeed... :-)

Re: all MJ all the time

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

"It's always about the money" is certainly part of it, no doubt, and your second point is also well-taken. Even so...

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't remember either John Lennon or Elvis Presley's press coverage very well (though I was, umm, older than twelve at the time.

And yep, I'm glad for Internet RSS newsfeeds, or I'd have the impression the whole world has stopped for the memorial service.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

I suspect it's more "we can make a fortune from MJ's death without doing any real reporting" is more the reason. Not to mention that the electorate probably doesn't give a rat's ass about what's happening elsewhere.

They'd be complaining if the coverage wasn't 100% Michael Jackson or the latest one-day-wonder story.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Adverts, the selling of. No one ever lost a cent underestimating etc, and that was in the days before the media was advertisement-dependent. Nowadays? Hullo magazine supplies the audience, and hence the agenda.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I think the coverage of Lennon's and Presley's deaths was equally pervasive in what media outlets there were, but there were fewer types of media, and far, far fewer individual sources, to cover it.

Jackson

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Why do you hate freedom?

B

[greenmtnboy18.livejournal.com]

IMO, "news" and media coverage has changed significantly, even since Lennon's death and Elvis' death. We are becoming more popculture news every day, and the internet does not help.

I love pop culture. I love the internet. But pop culture is not news.

I am currently a comcast customer, though not for much longer. Daily, their top five headlines on the site I sign in on have two, maybe three, international or national "news" stories (even those are questionable at times) and the others are pop culture. Or about "boy kills snake at zoo" or the fascination with the latest version of a "caylee anthony" type case.

Sensationalist news coverage is also peaking, as much as pop culture "news".

Re: Jackson

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

:-)

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

The tail of advertising does indeed too often wag the dog of coverage.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

You may be right; as I said, I really don't remember. I do remember seemingly eternal coverage of Princess Di's death, though, which may well fall into the same category.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

At least if I sat down to watch "Entertainment Tonight" I wouldn't be expecting more than coverage of pop culture and 'human interest' stories. There's 'truth in advertising' there. But that's not how CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc. label or advertise themselves.

[lauriemann.livejournal.com]

There was quite a lot for both Lennon and Presley, but the level of coverage for MJ has gone completely insane.

[controuble.livejournal.com]

You may now return to watching the MJ memorial service.

Do I have to? I wasn't planning to watch any of the hoopla.

Re: Jackson

[lauriemann.livejournal.com]

Howl!

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

And don't forget the ridiculous antics of the New York senate! Which is getting coverage here. Course, I'm listening to the radio, so it's not all Michael Jackson all the time.

[fredcritter.livejournal.com]

Michael who?

[sethb.livejournal.com]

A few decades ago, there was a spoof newspaper called "The Post-Nuclear Post". Headline: "Nuclear War Breaks Out. Michael Jackson, 50 million others dead."

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

The Columbia Journalism Review feels the same, and their recent story has a few embedded links to other stories about this issue: http://www.cjr.org/news_meeting/we_love_you_michael.php

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

Yes, Crom, Princess Di's death! Oh, how sick I was of that after one day. I went to the NY Renaissance Faire that day, and people were positively distraught.

And I was like, "What, did you know her personally?"

It's not that I've never shed a tear for a dead celeb, and any time the planet is robbed of talent or caring is a cause to mourn. But seriously--prostrate with grief for a stranger?

Maybe it's my Irish heritage (the stories about our wakes are true), but ongoing histrionics in the face of death always make me roll my eyes.