The Pew Research Center released its findings on July 1, saying 64 percent of those polled have pretty much overdosed on Michael Jackson stories. The same poll reports 29 percent are happy with coverage and 3 percent say the late King of Pop has not received enough attention.
Along the same lines, Associated Press ran an article stating the media had begun to cut back on Jackson coverage. The AP cites other new stories, such as Bernie Madoff’s sentencing and U.S. combat troops withdrawing from Iraqi cities, as reasons to discontinue wall-to-wall MJ coverage.
But AP’s report about reduced Jackson coverage was released two days ago, leading to speculation that the news organization might have been a tad optimistic when it published it.
However, the amount of media coverage devoted to Jackson isn’t just an American phenomenon, but a world-wide explosion of news stories, reports and rumors.
Even communist China acknowledged Jackson’s death. Official government mouthpiece The People’s Daily ran with the headline “Michael Jackson – A Generation’s King of Song, Passes Away.”
MTV Japan designated a week of mourning and in Indonesia a current affairs radio network that usually doesn’t air music, began playing Jackson’s catalog while taking calls from fans.
How big is the King of Pop’s death? That is, as a news story?
Although many have compared the King of Pop’s death with Elvis Presley’s 1977 demise, some are now saying the situation is more like Princess Diana’s death in a 1997 car crash.
Said Glenn Dyer, media correspondent for Australian news Web site Crikey: “I just wonder when the funeral happens, who is going to be the first idiot announcer to say they’re together in heaven.”
Click here for Pew Research Center's report.
Click here for the June 30 Associated Press report claming Michael Jackson media coverage is receding.