JenniferPrex

You made a great idea. I thought about the same thing, as you, when they began covering the news on Michael Jackson. He did, as we are told, several things throughout his life that was not the best of things to do, but we are told that he is the best pop culture icon ever! Amazing how when something bad happens that concerns a celebrity, then it is quickly covered up or pushed under the rug, per say, in order to make them look like great stars. Is it the news media that attempts to cover up negative aspects in popular people's lives or is it our culture that puts these actual events aside and then focuses on the positive achievements in the person’s life?

It seems like pretty much every aspect of Michael Jackson's life has been a source of some sort of media frenzy; as his doctor possibly faces charges of manslaughter, the newsworthiness just goes on and on. Because so much of what has happened to him is very unusual (one of the rules for when something is newsworthy), it tends to get reported beyond the point of interest might be for an everyday person or even a less unusual celebrity. I think reporters do tend to want to be respectful just after someone's died, but eventually they can't get away from the controversial elements that made a person newsworthy to begin with. In all the reporting on Michael Jackson, I didn't get the feeling so much of idolization as just obsession with a very unusual figure in our culture; it seemed like it was the culmination of all the incessant reporting on him that was going on for years. All the old controversies about him were eventually dragged out as the months went by, with this new one about the doctor beind added onto it. As an incredibly talented person with an equal amount of incredibly controversy, I think it was pretty hard for the media to let go of such a newsworthy figure.