Was he as famous as the Duke of Wellington?
There has been some debate about how much time a show like Channel 4 News should devote to a story like the death of Michael Jackson.
Both in the newsroom and, I imagine, among our viewers too. Is it really “our” kind of story? Is it really a lead story – night after night? Can it possibly be right that we currently have a bigger team in LA than we had in Tehran for the election? (But do remember you don’t need to get visas from a repressive government to enter Hollywood.)
Obviously it was vital while covering the story to try and work out some perspective on just how big a story this is.
I wasn’t a particular fan of Michael Jackson so I can’t say I was moved when I heard he was dead. Although listening to the non-stop Jackson tracks that blare out of every car, shop, and sidewalk here in LA I have realised just how many of his songs are deeply imprinted on my memory. And are actually bloody good.
But news values can’t be judged by personal taste. We have to find some more impartial standards to judge by. So try this:
Can you think of a celebrity death since Elvis that was bigger? And the parallels are a little freaky. By the end Elvis was ruined by his addiction to prescription drugs and the best of his musical career was well behind him by time he died of a sudden cardiac arrest. And had Channel 4 News been on air in 1977 I don’t think anyone would now argue we shouldn’t have devoted plenty of airtime to that story.
Obviously John Lennon was an equally huge musical icon. But the fact that he was murdered made that a different kind of news story. And since then – how many times have we seen such a truly global reaction to the death of an entertainer? It may not be quite Princess Diana or Eva Peron but as far as pop stars go I would argue that this is as big as it gets
Some younger members of Channel 4 News team have mentioned Kurt Cobain or Michael Hutchence. Big events we all remember and maybe you preferred their work. But they simply didn’t have Jackson’s global reach.
We hadn’t watched them grow up on stage from the age of eight. And quite frankly they did not record the biggest selling album of all time. Neither did Lennon or Elvis. Only Michael Jackson did. And that has to count for a lot in itself. Never mind his groundbreaking videos or famous siblings
The pathos of his life story only adds to the news value. We may have forgotten some of great musical achievements as we watched the increasingly grim spectacle that his life had become. We’d almost forgotten he was a real living person until his death showed he was just as mortal as the rest of us. It might have been uncomfortable to look at his decline and fall but it all adds to the amazing story that is the life and death of Jackson.
Who is still alive who is more famous? You could argue Stevie Wonder’s music was more influential but he simply isn’t as big a star. Madonna has as much worldwide fame and a controversial personal life that keeps her in the headlines. But her body of work just doesn’t stand up to Jackson’s.
There is certainly a strong case for saying he was the biggest black celebrity in the world. Maybe not the most famous black face – Nelson Mandela and Barak Obama might be more recognisable – but I would say he must be the best known black entertainer ever.
Maybe none of that convinces you that I should be here in LA rather than covering the climate change bill that was passed through Congress in Washington on Friday putting a limit on the carbon emissions coming from the world’s biggest polluter for the first time ever.
If that’s the case I’d make sure you don’t turn on the TV the day on Jackson’s funeral (rumours round LA suggest Wednesday). That seems set to be the biggest spectacle any of us will have seen for a very long time.
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Er, yes.
Duh…Ya think????
Faded Pop Star Succumbs To Inevitable Overdose isn’t a story. Yes, he was very popular and led an interesting (Ballardian/Baudrillardian) existence, but the weight of coverage is surely the news media’s response to: their perception that the news audience is disappearing; the demand to fill space; guilt at not ‘getting’ the significance of Cobain’s/Lennon’s/Hendrix’s/Presley’s deaths. The nadir for me was a Newsnight devoid of any news. Only the World Service called it right – a brief mention below serious events, such as Iran. It’s a shame a man wasted his talent, that he didn’t have the resources to rise above his unnatural situation, and that a man died young. The end.
While I accept that the death was a major event in the news and media world – the rest of the world didn’t stop either.
The way the media carried on, it was almost as if the only story that existed for the past three days was about one dead celeb in the USA.
I struggled to find any mainstream media leading (or even commenting) on the coup in Honduras, or the new Prime Minister in Lebanon.
The rolling news channels seemed to get more than averagely stuck on the same story – and refused to “roll” past and report what else was happening in the world.
I was almost thanking the Iranians for arresting some British embassy staff as it got the news channels onto a different story.
I tend to keep the 24 news channels on as background noise and the one upside to the blanket coverage has been to get me channel hopping to avoid seeing the same hysterically crying fans on the BBC every 20 minutes – and reminded me how good Al Jazeera actually is as a TV news channel.
Yes. Totally OTT.
Yes – Jackson is just another celebrity who has gone the same way as so many others, destroyed by the lifestyle.
&
No – Some sizeable professional questions really, about the manner of his death. Should the Doctor really prescribe whatever Jackson demands, just because Jackson employs the Doctor?
In a word – YES. In four words – WAY OVER THE TOP
The Beatles have sold more all-time, were the #5 selling artist of the 90’s and will finish the 2000’s as #1. 40 years after they recorded a new song.
How can this even be a discussion?
I’m going to be the voice of dissent and say the volume of coverage doesn’t bother me. You have to take into account what a massive cultural figure Jackson is and just how massive an impact he has had on music and music television. That he is a troubled and complex character only makes the story even more interesting.
I personally was far more annoyed when the 2008 Pakistan earthquake and the rebel offensive in the Congo were knocked off the headlines because of an irrelevant prank phone call by two BBC presenters. That little self-indulgent exercise by the British media still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I still can’t believe Channel 4 thought it was a worthy lead story.
10 billion people can’t be wrong! News is demanded, news is given, simple as.
From a personnel point of view, my sympathy goes out to his family and in particular his children. it’s a tragedy when any one dies. But the truth is this time last week nobody was giving him a second thought or if they were it wasn’t for the contribution to music. Even when he announced his come back tour it fuelled nothing but cynical comments about his reasons for doing so.
Now he has died, become some sort of icon and is being compared to President Obama. Some would say that its because he wasn’t appreciated until he died but the truth is his death has simply created a media opportunity. A chance for TV stations to fill their schedules, the press to fill their papers and yes, news casters to fill their bulletins. It’s the hypocrisy I stand. For years the media have hounded and mocked him and are at least partly responsible for the mess he was in.
Friday night’s news programme did seem a little hagiographic. However, that wasn’t helped by the fact the bulletin was only 30 minutes and there weren’t any other significant events, other than those in Iran (which is difficult to cover presently), to report.
Whatever one might think of Jackson, he was a significant figure in popular culture, so naturally C4 News should cover his death. However, I’d have expected the story to fade and was somewhat surprised to see an interview with the Rev Jesse Jackson included in this evening’s programme. I don’t think you should dwell too much on the rumours, conspiracy theories and other alleged scandals that emerge in the coming days.
For an intelligent and persuasive answer to the “how much coverage is appropriate?” question, try Charlie Brooker’s column posted to the Gaurdian’s website today [Monday]. Read on for my somewhat answer.
The news should really be about serving the public interest, getting across information/facts the at least some portion of the population needs to know.
Beyond the actual death, a reminder to look out for the well being of young and/or impressionable friends likely to be hard hit with a sense of loss, and maybe a brief obituary, there didn’t seem much that was in the public interest in a lot of the coverage. Canvasing public opinion on Michael Jackson’s legacy by stopping people on the streets of London is something left to the inheritors of “That’s Life” (as are celebrity reactions), reporting the opinion of a well respected music critic would be a steep in the right direction, but only music shops need to know how the death will affect demand for the music and they have well paid marketing people for such things. Too much of the coverage seemed justified or executed under the guiding principle of “this could be interesting to the public” rather than being in the public’s interest.
The Charlie Brooker link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/29/michael-jackson-glastonbury-charlie-brooker
Some of us aren’t particularly interested in celebrities, no matter how “huge” they are. He wrote some good pop songs, but his life was a car crash, and that’s why the media are going over the top. I hoped for better from C4 News, really.
I wish I could think that the world’s seeming obsession with celeb culture would go away soon, but I can’t.
To me Michael Jackson was someone who I watched on TV as a child. I grew up with the Pop Star’s music on TV and bought records and videos. He had such talent and preasence with his life. He was an intertainer to the world who gave so much. Now at this time of sadness for the family of Micheal and us,as fans may are prayers and love bring us all closer together in our time of grief. TH
Michael Jackson was greatly overrated in my opinion. He could dance well but did not have much of a voice and only sang in one or two musical genres. Further, he never matured as an artist andhad an inflated opinion of himself and his place in history. He would have done well to take the example of the REAL King of Music – Elvis Presley – who was the whole package.
Yes, Sarah the media is over-doing the coverage of Michael Jackson…
Children of the World, sleep a little easier
now that this strange”man?” can’t cause anymore damage. In any decent society he
would have been incarcerated years ago
in MY opinion.
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