I am not sure ....

[SwedishMeatball]

I think all of the MJ coverage has been way over the top, but I don't really care how other people choose to view it. I don't understand though choosing to mock a family member in their time of grief who is making a valid point. I wouldn't belittle the death of a soldier to try and justify an opinion.

 

[FireDancer]

I actually got a Breaking News alert on my blackberry from CNN yesterday "Michael Jackson's daughter talks at his memorial" -- although very sad, that is certainly not worthy of a Breaking News alert.

I'm not saying a wouldn't watch a documentary or a 60 minutes segment about his life, his death, etc somewhere down the road, but that's where stories like this belong, not on the front page.

The funeral of any celebrity, whether it be a musician, movie star, or athlete, needs to be put in context. It is not that these things should or should not be covered but they should be covered in the proper context. I can understand Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, or TMX covering a funeral nonstop. CNN, MSBNC, Fox News, these outlets should mention the death and then concentrate on the affairs of the world.

 

[sbell111]

What good did Michael Jackson ever do for anyone?

You clearly know little about MJ to have made that statement. In truth, a week ago, I couldn't tell you what good he ever did, beyond his music. However, since his deat, I have learned quite a bit more.

As Darsa posted, he committed an amazing amount of his life (and money, estimates have it at around $500,000,000) to a huge number of humanitarian causes.

Does this equate to a single soldier's life? No. However, when you and others discount the importance of entertainers such as MJ, you do your own causes a disservice.

To get back to the thread's rant, the level of attention given to MJ is because so many people were affected by his life. The media spends time on the issue because people want them to.

As I posted to a similar thread yeaterday (and likely will to another thread clone tomorrow), due to the magic of cable television and TiVos, I am free to watch only the programming that I wish to. Similarly, there are lots of topics being discussed in this forum and others. If one does not wish to discuss MJ, they are not forced to.

 

[imabrat]

(which if you believe that you are as dumb as they come).

Thank you for the compliment.


The ignorance shown over the past couple of days never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Darsa]

To get back to the thread's rant, the level of attention given to MJ is because so many people were affected by his life. The media spends time on the issue because people want them to.

Exactly, ITA.

 

[EthansMom]

I heard on the radio today that MJ's memorial service will likely cost the city of L.A. 2-4 Million dollars and that LA is already over 500 Million dollars in debt.

Sure, I think MJ had a huge impact on music and dance in the U.S. and touched people around the world. But if I was a taxpayer in LA, I would be irate to have my tax dollars going to pay for his memorial service.

I think it is likely that MJ had inappropriate contact with children (just as I think that it was "bad parenting" by the parents of those kids to let them sleep overnight at the house of a man they barely knew because he was famous). But I think that my response as to the hype/spending/attention given to MJ's death/funeral would be the same for any celebrity.

And don't give me the line about the media covering MJ because "the people want it". At least half of us are sick and tired of the overhyped coverage. The truth is that MJ's life and death are sensationalistic and will get viewers' attention... basically the people paying attention to the coverage are (1) either HUGE fans (mostly of his work about 20 years ago... cause he hasn't come out with much lately) or (2) are waiting to see how the train wreck will turn out (cause of death, custody of his kids, transfer of his estate).

It's a sad state of our society when MJ's death gets more attention/veneration than that of someone who saves lives or invents something that revolutionarily changes our society for the better (say, the curing cancer or polio) or even someone who is a world leader.

 

[luvsJack]

EXACTLY! (which if you believe that you are as dumb as they come)QUOTE]

Nice. What I believe is "innocent until proven guilty", something you do not seem to find important. Oh, but that is probably because of what YOU believe to be true and what YOU believe to be true is always right, correct? MJ was never proven guilty. You can have whatever opinion you want but guess what? IT IS JUST AN OPINION!!

There is always a lot of media coverage when a celebrity of this magnitude dies. Always. Why is everyone so surprised this time? I remember when Elvis died, heck it was worse than this!! All the news you could get was all about Elvis and stayed that way for a long time.

MJ was the "king of pop" and apparently there were millions of fans who loved him. Just because you and others on this forum are not among the millions does not make it untrue.

Is he comparable to a solider giving his life for our country? No. But do you seriously think that every solider's death can be covered in depth? I wish that so few soliders died that they could be covered in this way but its just not reality.

 

[KSchwagg86]

This article should have BEEN about the man who died, not about the family complaining.

 

[sbell111]

I heard on the radio today that MJ's memorial service will likely cost the city of L.A. 2-4 Million dollars and that LA is already over 500 Million dollars in debt.

Sure, I think MJ had a huge impact on music and dance in the U.S. and touched people around the world. But if I was a taxpayer in LA, I would be irate to have my tax dollars going to pay for his memorial service. ...

If the citizens of LA are upset by this use of funds, they can register their complaints in the voting box.

And don't give me the line about the media covering MJ because "the people want it". At least half of us are sick and tired of the overhyped coverage.

I get that you are sick and tired of the coverage. I even realize that many people like you are sick and tired of the coverage. However, I don't but your argument that most people are sick of the coverage. News organizations are not in the business of chasing away their audience. Your unwillingness to accept these simple facts do not make them untrue.

The truth is that MJ's life and death are sensationalistic and will get viewers' attention... basically the people paying attention to the coverage are (1) either HUGE fans (mostly of his work about 20 years ago... cause he hasn't come out with much lately) or (2) are waiting to see how the train wreck will turn out (cause of death, custody of his kids, transfer of his estate).

It's a sad state of our society when MJ's death gets more attention/veneration than that of someone who saves lives or invents something that revolutionarily changes our society for the better (say, the curing cancer or polio) or even someone who is a world leader.

Throughout your rant, you have ignored the fact that Michael Jackson did many, many very good things that have little to do with his music (beyond the fact that his success gave him the ability to be able to do the good works). By ignoring this fact, you do yourself and your argument a disservice. Also, by assuming that those who care either are fans of his music or are waiting for the trainwreck, you show a rudeness that is, well, icky.

 

[sbell111]

This article should have BEEN about the man who died, not about the family complaining.

Agreed. If they were unsatisfied about how the death has been reported, they should tell us something about him, rather than to simply complain. Also, I wonder if they gave the press permission to photograph the casket. Seems like if they gave permission to get the story out and supplied their local newspaper with info, the story would be there.

 

[C.Ann]

Well - let's see.. Back in May - prior to MJ's death - there was still fighting going on in at least two countries (and I would guess as that time there were deaths as well); the economy was still in terrible shape; the auto industry was still in dire straights; there were all kinds of damage and deaths from severe weather events; and on and on.. But what was on the front page of every paper and all over every single news station? Swine Flu..

The point? Money - as always.. The newspapers and news networks are going to go for the biggest "draw" - thus everything else taking a back seat..
If it wasn't something as "big" as MJ's death, it would have been some other "big" event - not the death of one soldier.. Is it fair? No.. The people who fight for this country should never be forgotten or ignored - but that's the reality of the "news media".. Take the biggest story and run with it..

 

[JPN4265]

but "A day before New York Rep. Peter King called Michael Jackson a “pervert” unworthy of nonstop media coverage, the aunt of a U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan on the same day Jackson died asked why her nephew's death went virtually unnoticed while the King of Pop got memorial shrines across the country."

how can the two even be compared at all?



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,530361,00.html?test=latestnews

They can't be compared. Michael Jackson should not have even been spoke of in the same sentence as the young man that gave his life for his country. But we seem more interested in MJ and a socialist president then we do the important things in life.

 

[sbell111]

I just realized that the story that the OP cited was from Fox News. I've learned that you have to check Fox's facts, so I did a bit of research.

A quick and dirty google search turned up these news stories about the soldier's death. All were published prior to Fox's rant.

one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
twenty
twenty-one
twenty-two
twenty-three
twenty-four
twenty-five
twenty-six
twenty-seven
twenty-eight
twenty-nine
thirty
thirty-one
thirty-two
thirty-three
thirty-four
thirty-five
thirty-six
thirty-seven
thirty-eight
thirty-nine
forty
forty-one
forty-two
forty-three

It's tragic that any of our soldiers have to die, but no one ignored this soldier's passing.

Shame on you, Fox News.

 

[sbell111]

They can't be compared. Michael Jackson should not have even been spoke of in the same sentence as the young man that gave his life for his country. But we seem more interested in MJ and a socialist president then we do the important things in life.

Please save your political junk for some other venue.

 

[sbell111]

I just wanted to note that in my research into news stories regarding the fallen soldier, I could find no reference to him by Fox New's prior to their story that he wasn't getting enough coverage.

Sad.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

EXACTLY! MJ is not more important than the thousands of other people who died last week from heart ailments. If I had to chose one person to spend a week covering the soldier is much more deserving than MJ. I wonder how many doctors died over the last week that spent their lives saving others. How many policeman and fireman that spent their lives saving others. These people deserve more than a celebrity that did nothing more than sell some albums. Even if he didn't touch the kids (which if you believe that you are as dumb as they come) he is merely a pop star.

Interesting, considering that one of the main things that convinces me is the statements of certain celebrities (including Brooke Shields.) I would be willing to bet she has a higher I.Q. than you or your precious Lance Armstrong. I would also hazard a guess, based on percentiles and odds, that my I.Q. is higher than yours.
Having said that, I'm not a huge Michael Jackson fan and I feel that his death has gotten more coverage than it warranted. However, I also am not one to spew hatred because of something that was NEVER proven.

 

[FireDancer]

I would also hazard a guess, based on percentiles and odds, that my I.Q. is higher than yours.

There is not enough information available to support this assumption. Believe what you want and I will believe what I want. There are those that believe the holocaust didn't happen, the Earth is flat, and alien bodies were found in New Mexico. In the interest of keeping from getting dizzy going around and around I will enjoy staying off of this thread now. No one is going to change anyone else's mind.

 

[Liberty Belle]

EXACTLY! MJ is not more important than the thousands of other people who died last week from heart ailments. If I had to chose one person to spend a week covering the soldier is much more deserving than MJ. I wonder how many doctors died over the last week that spent their lives saving others. How many policeman and fireman that spent their lives saving others. These people deserve more than a celebrity that did nothing more than sell some albums. Even if he didn't touch the kids (which if you believe that you are as dumb as they come) he is merely a pop star.

Wow.

I'm not one to point out spelling errors, but before you decide to tell people they are "as dumb as they come," you might want to invest in spell check.

 

[Darsa]

EXACTLY! MJ is not more important than the thousands of other people who died last week from heart ailments. If I had to chose one person to spend a week covering the soldier is much more deserving than MJ. I wonder how many doctors died over the last week that spent their lives saving others. How many policeman and fireman that spent their lives saving others. These people deserve more than a celebrity that did nothing more than sell some albums. Even if he didn't touch the kids (which if you believe that you are as dumb as they come) he is merely a pop star.

Wow.

I'm not one to point out spelling errors, but before you decide to tell people they are "as dumb as they come," you might want to invest in spell check.

Mmmkay, while I'm in NO WAY agreeing with FireDancer, in fact I completely DISagree with a lot of what he's stated in this thread, I see no spelling errors in that post. The only thing I can see is using the singular of policemen and firemen, rather than the plural.
Of course, apparently I'm "as dumb as they come", so I very well may be missing something

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

There is not enough information available to support this assumption. Believe what you want and I will believe what I want. There are those that believe the holocaust didn't happen, the Earth is flat, and alien bodies were found in New Mexico. In the interest of keeping from getting dizzy going around and around I will enjoy staying off of this thread now. No one is going to change anyone else's mind.

Interesting that you of all people would say there wasn't enough information available to support an assumption.