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Media Madness Over Michael?
July 1, 2009 - 11:32 AM | by: Jill DobsonLA Times columnist Tim Rutten says news organizations have allowed website clicks and ratings to rule editorial decisions. “No reasonable editor or producer,” says Rutten, “Should ignore the kind of public interest we’re seeing. But surrendering utterly to it ultimately undercuts what’s genuinely valuable about serious news media.”
The Pew Research Center for Excellence in Journalism calculates that between Jackson’s death Thursday and the end of the day Friday, “Sixty percent of the news coverage across 55 different news outlets was devoted to Jackson’s death.” And that doesn’t include the primetime Michael Jackson specials that aired on the major broadcast networks.
Some are criticizing the type of coverage, rather than the amount.
National Review writer Jonah Goldberg questions the “unseemly amount of reverence and adoration” for a man accused of pedophilia.
Meantime, OK Magazine hits newsstands today with a cover photo of Michael Jackson in the ambulance with oxygen – dying or possibly dead. The magazine reportedly paid $500,000 for the photo.
OK Magazine Editorial Director Sarah Ivens told Mediaweek, “It’s a photo that captures the surprise and the upset and the moment of this breaking news story. I hope the cover will provoke readers.”
The New York Post quotes an unnamed insider calling the cover a disgrace, saying, “They've sunk to a new low."
Has the media as a whole sunk to a new low? Or are news outlets just giving audiences what they want? Should news outlets focus less on Jackson and more on Iran, North Korea, and other news stories?
The Pew Research Center points out that times have certainly changed, stating, “When Elvis Presley died in 1977, CBS News was criticized for choosing not to lead its newscast with it.” Jackson has led the news coverage for days.
Do you think the Michael Jackson overage has been overkill? Click “comments” below and share your thoughts.
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