Our long national nightmare is over.
I am, of course, referring to the media’s coverage of Michael Jackson’s death and funeral. OK, I know, I know. It’s not over. There are still reports to be filed, estates to be litigated and doctors who might get sued.
For the record, I was never a big fan of the King of Pop. I can’t deny he had talent, but it wasn’t talent that spoke to me like it spoke to the masses who have been over-exaggerating their love for him in the past week. Hence, I don’t have the same emotional reaction to his death. Death is tragic, yes. But MJ and I just weren’t tight enough for me to react with such deep sorrow.
What did sadden me, however, was the media coverage surrounding his death. Let’s start with the CNN text alerts that I’ll soon be canceling. On the day of his death, I received four — one to announce he had suffered cardiac arrest, the second to say he was in a coma, the third declaring he had died (according to other sources) and a fourth to confirm that yes, he had in fact died, CNN confirmed. In the days since, there have been various “breaking news” alerts regarding Jackson. Yesterday, there were two — one to say his golden coffin was in front of the stage as his memorial was under way. The start of his service was breaking news? Really? The second was to let me know this breaking gem: that his daughter says he was the best dad ever. I say again. Really, CNN? That’s breaking news?
I have often questioned the value of my CNN text messages as breaking news. A funeral that was so widely publicized? Not so much breaking, I’d say.
Matt Lauer took Today Show viewers on an absurd tour of the empty Jackson home, telling them where items once were. Jon Stewart dedicated part of his show to all the bad celebrity death coverage of late. Even MSNBC’s tech blogger got in on the action yesterday — declaring that the Internet was working just fine despite increased traffic from those trying to watch the service online. OK, that’s not entirely fair. That was his lead — that things were fine, but he followed up with some interesting stats about which celebrities were demanding the most traffic during the service. Interesting, yes. Newsworthy? Questionable. But it’s a blog targeted to a demo who cares about such things. So, fine.
Still, at the end of the day, Michael Jackson was a great entertainer. But an entertainer nonetheless. One with a controversial and storied past. With his passing, the sudden renewed interest in his life is just short of embarrassing. Sure, “news” editors and producers have seen public interest and catered to it, but to what extent? Will we ever see a time when these gatekeepers once again — I dunno — gate-keep? Is the death of Michael Jackson really a 10-day story? At what point does it become an obsession rather than news?
I’d say we’re well past that point.
Very well written!
I agree whole heartedly with you, though I wasn’t subjected to text messages. I felt that there was too much coverage. It was ridiculous.
One woman broke down on television and claimed that Michael Jackson was a hero. HA!! I waited to hear her story to see if he ran into a burning building to save someone or land a plane in a lake. Nope, it’s because he could moonwalk and sing.
Anyhow, yes, I think there was too much coverage and really now, wasn’t there anything else going on in the world that could have been covered? This is certainly going on my calendar as “a slow news day”.
The only U.S. channel we get up here is CNN, and that was simply unwatchable for the past 10 days. Carmelo’s point is a good one, too–I was stunned at the emotional investment that people apparently had in this guy.
No question that Jackson was a talent, but he was better known for the past decade-plus as a freak. For that reason, I’m betting that he and his music will be less remembered than Elvis in 20 years. Presley may have been a fat drug addict, but at least he was still performing.