Jackson Arriving

[liberalmike27]

You guys realize this Jackson stuff is just fluff to take all of the real news off. Same with Koby, Kennedy trials, OJ, Lacy Peterson.

They do us a disservice when they show that crap continuously, and the only thing we can do is stay informed about the real things that matter to us, and ignore this kind of crap. If you succumb to watching this gossip crap, then you are part of the problem.

Now we have an energy bill, a prescription bill, protestors in Miami being fired on with rubber bullets, Bush acting like a moron in England, English protests, and hundreds of other real news items, and they show continuous crap!!! Total crap. Stop watching that crap, and focus on real things that happen to us.

Like fighting a losing battle,..

[DrWeird]

1. Who gives a shit.

Jesus fucking christ, people, grow up and get your priorities straight.

[Webster Green]

2. You are correct sir....

Most of the MJ posts on this board today (yours included) have voiced frustration that this is the dominant news story of the day.

[Dookus]

3. nope... I disagree

EVERY time some story that has nothing to do with politics is covered, people here complain about the "distractions", many of whom blame Karl Rove himself.

I think that's BS. Celebrity scandals have ALWAYS been covered heavily by the media. Oscar Wilde, Fatty Arbuckle, OJ Simpson and hundreds of others, going back a very very long time. Whether you like it or not, people are genuinely interested in such stories, as evidenced by the number of papers/magazines they buy covering these stories, and which networks they watch.

I guarantee that if CNN spent the day covering the Free Trade Conference in Florida, and MSNBC spent the day covering Michael Jackson, MSNBC would gain the vast majority of viewers.

Other stories ARE being reported. Go to CNN.COM and you'll find dozens of stories having nothing to do with celebrities. I just find it silly that people think this all some sort of planned distraction. When the biggest popstar in the world gets arrested in a child sex scandal, people are interested.

ALL societies since the dawn of civilization (or even before) have been interested in gossip. It exists in all societies, and probably performs an important social function.

The jackson story is being covered heavily, but not exclusively. I've seen lots of other stories today about other topics.

[liberalmike27]

4. Dookus

We have a country of nearly 300 million. Do you understand that there are hundreds of Lacy Petersons out there? You don't have to manufacture anything, it is there. It is the choice of what they want to cover. We have tons of important things on, but there was probably 15 hours of MJ coverage. Who gives a crap? Why would any sane parent let their kid go there at this point anyway? They are idiots, and television like this, this kind of "news pretense" is part of what is driving the stuff that matters off of the main medium people watch, television. By the way, did I say "crap" enough in the first post?

The conspiracy part isn't about manufacturing Jackson, as much as it is covering any given thing continuously, Gary Condit, Clinton's Penis, Jackson's Penis, whatever. Get it?

This kind of story should be a mention, like "Michael Jackson was arrested today, accused of child abuse." Now for the rest of the news. Perhaps they are using Lowest common denominator, appealing to the most idiotic. Honestly, I don't give a crap about anything enough to listen to it four hours at a time, hearing them say the same thing over and over, even those sniper attacks. It makes me want to puke.

[Dookus]

6. And if

a network thought they'd get more viewers by covering it that way, they would!

The problem is really that news has become a business. For decades, the networks provided news as a public service, and took that obligation seriously.

For 20 years now, it's become a profit center, so the outlets all have to compete with one another for the most viewers/readers. It's become a market-based approach, and rightly or wrongly, the vast majority of the market is interested in this crap. I'm not wild about it, but I don't see political operatives from the White House phoning CNN and ordering them to cover Michael Jackson's plane landing. They don't need to.


As soon as people stop watching stuff like that, the networks will stop covering it. But don't hold your breath. Celebrity gossip/scandal has always been with us, and always will.

[Noordam]

5. Well IMHO I do see Rove's hand in it......

Protesters in London and Miami,, WhistleAss not looking good. Ask my good buds over at Fox, what do people really want to watch.... Well SEX and a Movie/Rock/etc Star......

Rove to Ashnazi, hey Ash, do you have any Sex and Movie star cases going that we could do this week....

[nostamj]

7. and......... there was that little incident in Turkey

27 dead including the British counsel.... HUNDREDS wounded so the death toll WILL rise.

but I learned SO much about the specifications for MJ's private jet!

[Dookus]

8. and yet

from the variety of news sources I check, I managed to hear about BOTH the attacks in Istanbul AND Michael Jackson's arrest.

Name ONE major media outlet that only covers one story. They all cover a variety of stories... probably because more than one thing happens in the world every day.