07.01.2009 2:41 pm
Two-thirds say coverage of Jackson was excessive
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
A new poll out from the Pew Center says two-thirds of those surveyed thought there was too much coverage of Michael Jackson’s death. The posting includes a list of the people whose deaths were closely watched by the public. Princess Diana tops the list, President Kennedy is second and Steve “the crocodile hunter” Irwin is third.
Jean is projects editor at the Post-Dispatch. She is a member of Bridges Across Racial Polarization, a group devoted to creating friendships and fostering communication among racial and cultural groups in the community. After growing up in a small town in Kansas, she lived in Kansas City and Wilmington, Del., before moving to St. Louis in 2004. She and her husband, Dan Wiggs, live in University City. 
-What’s next? A piece on the number of stories COMMENTING on the number of stories commenting on Michael Jackson’s death?
-Let’s waste another week on somebody, who before his death, was just a footnote in the circus of the weird, wild, and wacky.
President Kennedy’s assassination “coverage” was done as part of a national period of mourning. There was a reverence which surrounded it that seems inconceivable today.
Elvis and Michael Jackson are pop icons, whom it would seem may have succumbed to the same host of drugs.
Neither one merits this much coverage. Let the whole tawdry affair paly out in the gossip pages.
“Put it to bed” ENOUGH SAID! Move on to real news!
A new poll out from Pew Center says that one-third of the people that didn’t think the coverage of Whacko Jackson’s death was excessive are complete and total idiots.
Personally I find the endless coverage over AMERICAN IDOL, the All Star game and the Super bowl to be pretty stupid…but somehow I just deal with it.. If you dont care that Jackson is dead then JUST DEAL WITH IT. Some people do.
I”VE dealt with it by changing the channel of any TV or radio show that is covering it.
Looks like the “Editor’s Desk” is ahead of the curve though, as 3 of last 4 stories have been about it.
Maybe you should write a story on how Steve Parker is obsessed with MJ.
Was the coverage of Elvis’ death excessive? And I’ve heard it argued — and I agree — that Jackson had much more talent than Elvis, and was much more adroit at re-inventing himself. So, given that, and given that the rock band Prism wrote a song memorializing Elvis’ death, I would argue, no, the coverage of Jackson’s death was not excessive. And this is coming from someone who isn’t a big Jackson fan.
The coverage of Jackson’s death is definitely excessive. If people are that concerned and caught up by his death then it explains why our society is heading into the toilet. People need to get their priorites straight. Craving news about this poor mentally unstable guy is sick.
Ireland, you hit it spot on.
Ireland4ever… No, the public’s starry-eyed preoccupation with `America Idle’ (I mean, `American Idol’) explains why our society is headed for the toilet. Like it or not, Jackson left his stamp on popular culture and the music world, and it was a big one. However, though this would no doubt please his extreme followers, I seriously doubt Jackson will rise from the dead.