We lost two well-known figures over the weekend - on Friday, veteran news anchor Walter Cronkite, and on Sunday, novelist Frank McCourt.
You'd think that the news talkers (as Charlie Kelly calls them) would spend a lot more time honoring the life of a brilliant writer or one of their own. But after the initial slew of nice write-ups and on-air tributes, they've all gone back to business as usual - obsessing over the minutiae of Michael Jackson's life and death. Was he murdered? Will Debbie Rowe get the kids? But Janet wants the kids! Why did Janet's boyfriend dump her in her time of need? Does Michael's mom hate Diana Ross? Well, she wasn't at the memorial! Who's gonna pay for that memorial? Is "Billie Jean" better than "Beat It?" Is Michael like buttah? Let's watch the lost Pepsi commercial footage again! In slow motion this time! Hey, is Tito still alive?
You'd think that the news talkers (as Charlie Kelly calls them) would spend a lot more time honoring the life of a brilliant writer or one of their own. But after the initial slew of nice write-ups and on-air tributes, they've all gone back to business as usual - obsessing over the minutiae of Michael Jackson's life and death. Was he murdered? Will Debbie Rowe get the kids? But Janet wants the kids! Why did Janet's boyfriend dump her in her time of need? Does Michael's mom hate Diana Ross? Well, she wasn't at the memorial! Who's gonna pay for that memorial? Is "Billie Jean" better than "Beat It?" Is Michael like buttah? Let's watch the lost Pepsi commercial footage again! In slow motion this time! Hey, is Tito still alive?
Comments
Awww.Your blog is sad!
Not only for the man, but for what he represented: Objective news that was trustworthy and that didn't have a slant one way or the other. It died along with him, at least in the USA. Now we have news divisions that are expected to make a profit, and vertically integrated companies headed by men that have a financial interest in the editorial content of the news outlets they own.
I guess it's silly to expect the media to extensively report on the death of a man whose career embarrassingly points out the fundamental and pervasive flaws in the way they do business. But I wish it weren't.
Altho I was counting on you about Paula.
I got the urge to watch Angela's Ashes, just last night, after having it on my DVR for about a month. Weirdness.
But it gave me relief from newspeople debating if MJ was addicted to drugs. Hmm, that's a headscratcher!