Why is he getting more media coverage than our failing economy, failing healthcare, North Korea aiming missiles at us, global warming, pollution, AIDS, starving children, etc.? This world needs to wake up and realize there are much more import issues and news than a pop star dying because he hired his own doctor and nurses to dispense drugs to him. More important news than a wealthy drug addict getting the drugs he asks for (like Elvis, like Anna Nicole). I recognize his contributions and talent to the music world, but there are wayyyyy more important things going on than letting his death completely take over the news media. Rest in Peace Michael, sorry you died far too soon. Sorry no one could step in and say “NO!, No drugs! Get in to rehab!” I feel sorry for his ‘children’. I know they had to have seen him high, at least more than once. Addiction is a very cunning and baffling disease. And many of those that love addicts live in denial. Just another rich addict that managed to get themselves dead…accidently? Right!!!
Another debate about Michael Jackson? Aren’t there better things to talk about?
Because he’s bigger (or more immediate) news. All of those other things DO get plenty of press, but none of them are exactly new subjects. But MJ only dies once.
So…we need to dwell on all the bad things that happen in the world instead? Personally, I’m no big fan of any celebrity…but trying to dictate what people should or shouldn’t be interested in is, IMHO, a fools game. Good luck with that.
(And you created a new board account just for this one subject?? Good grief…)
-XT
If you examine yourself, you will find the answer.
You signed up at a message board that only permits one username per poster using an announcement of his death as your username, so that any post you make will tie you to that particular event forever, for the sole purpose of posting a generic rant about the inconsequential nature of celbrity death.
= = = =
Mod note:
(If you are planning to stick around the SDMB, you might want to e-mail an Administrator and ask for a username that you can live with. If you begin posting with a separate username without getting a name change, both names will be banned.)
SNAP!
Do you have a cite on cause of death being an overdose, or is your OP based on speculation? Perhaps I missed something, but I’ve yet to see any official announcement on news sites, so it seems a bit premature to rail against the deification of an overdosing drug addict.
In the last week has there been any major changes to the economy? I believe rather poor unemployment figures were announced for the most recent month. But “A Lot of People Are Unemployed” is not exactly news is it?
Again, how is our healthcare system any different than it was a month ago? Some people have insurance, some don’t. The President wants to get more people insured, but that hasn’t happened yet.
I swear, this is like the adult version of “There are children starving in Africa!” When hasn’t some impotent little shit been aiming missiles at us?
Yawn. Again, important issues, not news.
But do you know what is news? When the biggest pop star of the last 30 years drops dead of unknown causes (that’s right, there hasn’t been an overdose yet) at a young age. That doesn’t happen everyday. So it becomes (say it with me) newsworthy.
How you resisted the obvious “Man in the Mirror” pun, I’ll never understand. Maybe that sort of restraint is why they made you a mod.
Ah, the “news agencies don’t provide saturation coverage of what I personally think they should cover” argument again. Firstly, I find it hard to believe that in this era anyone with Internet access has a difficult time finding fresh news on any of the above subjects. To take just one item at random, here are a few, sort-of hypothetical, questions:
What specific news about North Korea do you feel you are missing?
Since you clearly are already aware that North Korea has recently threatened to fire a missile toward Hawaii, a fact you presumably learned via a media outlet, what more do you want to know?
Are you able to locate on-line news sites that specialize in military or diplomatic affairs? Do you feel their coverage of North Korea is inadequate in some way? If so, what is lacking?
Do you actually believe that the various major news agencies would neglect to mention an act of war by North Korea simply because they have some of their staff currently writing stories about Michael Jackson?
Now, if what you are saying is that popular news agencies aren’t publishing enough editorial content telling people what they should think about a certain subject, that’s something altogether different. I merely point out that most at least make some attempt to separate objective news reporting from subjective opinion pieces, even if, in a world of FOX News and bloggers subject to no journalistic controls to speak of, the line becomes increasingly blurred.
But this isn’t NEWS either. Michael Jackson dying was news, how he died is news, but covering a memorial isn’t news.
This is just for ratings.
I bet the clerics in Iran are so happy Jackson died, now no one cares about them.
I think it’s sad, I live in Chicago and we have destitute Gary Indiana and how our local news is covering Jackson’s hometown. Joe Jackson had one goal to get his kids OUT of Gary and never look back, which was what he did.
Jackson didn’t do anything for Gary, IN.
All these tributes to Jackson by Gary, IN is just an attempt to capitalize off his death.
“One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic.” - Stalin
Speaking as one of the destitute living in Gary, although I personally do not feel this way many of my neighbors view the success of the Jacksons as proof that it is possible to do well and, if one chooses, get the hell out of Gary. The news media reporting on it, and some of the souvenir hawkers, are certainly looking for a little profit but for much of the city this is the death of a local boy who made good, whether or not he ever did anything for the folks back home.
The man danced. Honestly, he friggin’ danced.
Thousands die everyday. And I’ll bet my legs that the majority of them had never been to trial for touching little boys, and were much better people than MJ.
Nothing against him, but wow, this media coverage shows how we as a culture are prioritized. Scary, really.
And made a loooooot of money in the process, thus Broomstick’s “local boy who made good” comment.
Yeah really, enough about MJ, we have scandals to cover, people! What about Mark Sanford and Sarah Palin?
Of course none of those missles can actually hit us…
Did he ever do anything for Gary? Going by what I heard at the funeral he gave lots of money to lots of different charities.
I loved this a day or two after his death. Message boards were clogged with threads full of people complaining about the amount of attention being paid to him. It’s like the kind of people that ring phone-in radio with long waffly complaints about the number of long waffly calls they take.
I don’t think our friend the OP will be back. He has only one post and it was two days ago…