Alright then, I have refrained from comment on the death of Michael Jackson on this blog as it initially did not seem appropriate as bias was not immediately obvious. HOWEVER, two days on, the amount of coverage being given as the Dianafication of Jacko continues is surely an issue for an organisation that pretends it is a serious broadcaster. The questions in my mind are as follows.
1. If it “makes no difference if you’re black or white” why has the BBC wheeled one black artiste on after another to tell us how important MJ was?
2. Why is Emily Maitlis getting down with the breakdancers on the pavements of LA?
3. Why is the paedophilia being downplayed and the conversion to the ROP ignored?
I am sorry for Jackson’s family, friends and fans but it is important that the FULL picture of his odd and increasingly pathetic life be provided. With the BBC, we are getting half the picture, sanitised and dianafied.
Yes, spot on, David.
Jackson is still the BBC's main item on its 'News Front Page', and there's a 'BBC News' (28 mins video) 'special on Jackson' on site.
Still, it enables BBC to divert us from the woes of the Labour government.
Absolutely agree, and good questions.
Though to be fair the other news outlets, especially al-Guardian and The Times have gone bananas over this ridiculously overblown story about a middle-aged has-been with disturbing interests in sleeping with young children, drugs, and plastic surgery. Of course we don't have to pay a tax though for those newspapers.
The mindless vacuity of the BBC is depressing, and the key reason it is still giving huge coverage to this event is because it absolves them from having to undertake any serious journalism.
I sat down to have a cup of tea at about 3pm expecting my usual diet of crap on News 24. But following the death of a very strange entertainer, there was nothing but Jacko stuff. All right, cover it. He was important to a lot of people, but really. As our American friends say — get a life! Or as the terrorist-huggers opine about some Israeli defense actions — it was a bit 'disproportionate'.
I am enforcing my own news blackout until the furore dies down (probably in six months time).
Jackson preyed on little boys and used his wealth to buy off their families.
Good riddance to the weird, pederast wretch.
He is an absolutely massive figure and influence upon popular culture so it seems fairly proper that they would concentrate on that rather than going for the lurid accusations.
And what the "black artiste" comment is about is beyond me. For starters, from what I saw, the first person they dragged in was Uri Geller, then Paul Gambaccini got some attention. Would you like the BBC to not feature all the black artists that Michael Jackson has influenced or worked with? Or would you prefer a quota system where they balanced things out? One black comment one white comment. Genius idea, though I thought that was the type of thing you didn't like about those PC idiots at the BBC?
The JZA,
From what I saw on the BBC this morning, no white faces allowed. Other than Jackos.
since this post is about the world of popular music –
bbc are getting absolutely murdered over their glastonbury coverage
have a look at the comments in the links below:
Bruce Springsteen
Neil Young
What I object to is the way that vital news like that from Iran has been pushed out of the way. The BBC's public service justifictation ought to mean that it is above the need to pander to the hysteria of fans and should continue talking about the stories which matter to the public interest. That means Neda, not Jacko.
I agree with Ed T at 2.33. My absolute amazement last night as Newsnight appeared to be wall to wall Jacko – well I suppose I sat mesmorised for up to 15 minutes before I could stand it no longer and switch off. I too had hoped for some 'proper news' (OK I realised that I would get the usual bias) – but hearing Miss Wark ask people who had a message on their answerphone from Jackson 1 month ago 'If he had seemed OK then?' isn't even up to their poor political analysis standards.
'…then Paul Gambaccini got some attention…'
I'd like to give him some attention. With a tyre iron.
With the BBC, we are getting half the picture, sanitised and dianafied.
Don't know about that, but we certainly are getting it, ad nauseam, to the exclusion of all else.
Is this their remit?
BBC News, showing its priorities, has posted this since Jackson's demise:
"Stonewall veteran recalls gay riot" (of 1969),
– complete with sycophantic BBC video interview.
('Americas' page.)
end of the day – he is the greatest entertainer the world has ever seen. Im only a 19 year old and its the equivalent of when Elvis Died. I cant say anything on the matter becasue i wasnt alive, but i would take a stab in the dark that the media didnt portray elvis as the fat, drunkard he bacame?? (and i am an elvis fan, as i am a jacko fan). But the end of the matter is he is dead, no conspiracy theories are required, so it can all be dropped
Anon 4:14
end of the day – he is the greatest entertainer the world has ever seen
er, more accurately, at end of the day – he is the most famous pederast and plastic surgery addict the world has ever seen. Get over this Jackson horseshit people and move on. This isn't news.
In today's world, celebrity is everything.
The funniest thing about the BBC's treatment of Wacko's demise is that they keep telling us that some album of his remains the biggest seller ever. Well, yes, who the hell buys albums these days? Wacko came at the end of album era so obviously no one is even attempting to beat his "record". It's like saying that some 50's singer has sold more "78s" than anyone today. I expect Wacko is even now with the queen of hearts, packing Tesco shelves in the sky.
The assertion that Michael Jackson is 'the greatest entertainer the world has ever seen' is nonsense. Here is a link to a web site comparing Elvis Presley and Bing Crosby.
http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/elvisbing.html
Though he was extraordinary, Jacko shouldn't even be counted in the same company. Perhaps the BBC – and its chums – should observe a little perspective.
I could never see what the fuss was about: leaving aside all the plastic surgery, I think he looked like a tit, with that stupid hairstyle and silly clothes + glove; and his frantic singing style left me totally unmoved (and this isn't some old fogey writing – I'm roughly Jackson's age).
But the more important question is, if they still had segregation in the States, would he be buried in the black or white section of the cemetary?
The BBC has turned into the 'Daily Star', only much less entertaining. Public service broadcasting?????
The funny thing is that I was a teenager when Jacksons "Thriller" album came out and I really don't remember that albums appearance being a big thing for my peers at school. Sure the Thriller video was clever but the songs were mindless repetitive cr*p. In reality he was a bog standard 80's pop artist but a master of PR.
The conversion to the ROP is interesting as it seems to give a true insight into his personality. Having been loaned some money by a genuine friend and gentleman (who OK expected to make some money out of it in return) who helped him when no one else would. Jackson's response was to fake a conversion to the ROP as he seemed to be in the belief that converts were forgiven their debts. When this turned out not to be the case nothing more was heard of this conversion.
Now he is no more and the bribes will stop it will be interesting to see what other stories emerge. I have a feeling there will be a few.
For the life of me I can not see how you could call Jacko "black" when he became progressively more white each year, to the point where I have seen Scotsmen return from a week's holiday in Spain who are more black that he was. "Vitiligo" was the official condition though a wiki search suggests something else –
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_used_to_turn_Michael_Jackson's_skin_white_and_how_does_it_work
"..he is the greatest entertainer the world has ever seen."
According to whom? You and the BBC? I bet for every one Micheal Jackson "fan" there are thousands who aren't. It depends on your taste.
BBC gives the impression that Jackson was inimitable.
See:
"Joe Gaudet's impression of Michael Jackson" Youtube.
Fair points, all, I have to say.
Nobody's saying don't cover it Nor is anyone complaining about praise for his artistry. It's just the tone and sanitization. Any mention of how he was a parasite in the UAE for a while, a country not known for its concern for children's rights, bleeding some prince? I could go on.
I'm old enough to remember when Elvis died, as it happens. I was out the country at the time, but saw the US newspapers as well as European press. The flat, bloated version was on the cover of half the press. The other half were split between the young Elvis and the Las Vegas ridiculous white outfit Elvis. Of course, in the US we saw a lot of that strange yet ironic photo of him shaking hands with Nixon when he was appointed an honorary Drug Enforcement Agency agent or whatever.
Elvis wasn't anywhere near as bizarre and controversial, of course, but his foibles weren't hidden, and there was no airbrushing of history.
It makes a difference because I would bet that just as many media types back then grew up as huge Elvis fans, just like so many of today's Beeboids at a certain level were massive fans of Jackson when they were in their teenage years.
The Beeboids wear their emotions on their sleeves, though, and interpret the news for everyone through that filter.
never been a great fan of Jackson, and I always found the overblown pomposity distastful, And I find the enforced public grief terrible, however,
1) he was found innocent of any crime, if you go down the line and say that the verdict does not matter that could lead to unjustice…it's the old 'no smoke without fire' ruse
2) the last trial was 'iffy' and should never have been borught as the witness had a history of accusing innocent, wealthy men of abuse.
regardless of his music, or if it has been any good for twenty years, he is the largest selling artist ever, more than that culturally he was important. He was the artist, with Prince to a lessor extent, who broke the colour bar in the media, he weas the first black artist on MTV. You can see the impact of this everywhere.
he was also the first singer to crossover race, sex, or country.
and finally, I don't think we'll see anyone ever having his stature or impact.
it is understandable the Beeb would deal with his death, though I agree that it is going over the top
I never touched any of them kids, and I gots me the bank transfer receipts to prove it, cha-mon.
And my skin? It lightened the fuck up due to a naturel skin condition, cha-mon. Don't you be talkin' shit about my skin tone, you inbred honkey motherfuckers. I might be dead, but I can still moonwalk up and down your stinkin' asses. Hee-hee. Ow!
I am just waiting for the inevitable conspiracy theories. Then claims that he isn't really dead and was spotted in Lidl last week. On R4 some half-wit compared Jackson to Mozart. These people need to get some perspective.
gotta love this hyping up of "tributes" to Jacko
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8122642.stm
"Rapper Dizzee Rascal has led the crowd at the Glastonbury music festival in a tribute to Michael Jackson."
"Pharrell Williams, The Streets, Lily Allen and Gabriella Cilmi are among the other artists who have paid tribute. "
line up:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/glastonbury/2009/lineup/
so i guess Neil Young, The Specials, Bloc Party, Ting Tings , Lady Gaga, Friendly Fires, Fleet Foxes etc did NOT do a jacko "tribute".
says a lot when a tiny minority of artists do "tributes" to the kiddie fiddler and how the BBC grabs onto it and hypes it.
complaints are building up big time over non-coverage of Neil Young and "The Boss"
BBC has obviously forgotten one key thing that every private sector company knows – dont EVER piss off the middle class, middle aged, dad rocker.
Neil Young
Springsteen
Bear in mind that this is Springsteens FIRST EVER Glasto gig.
and what do the BBC do with their billions?
Oh show it in the "highlights". probably 2 or 3 songs out of a 2 hour set.
sure , they'll complain about "rights restrictions" – but thats just code for "we wouldnt pay the artist what he wanted".
they have no problem throwing £16 million at utter tossers like Jonathan Woss.
The Boss gig is going to be huge – throw a few million at him and show on BBC 1 primetime. would draw a huge audience. but no, the Beeboids cant seem to see the significance of his arrival at Glastonbury.
Someone the other day said Beeboid radio wanks were giving callers that weren't attending Glastonbury a hard time, demanding to know why they weren't going. Looking at that lineup, I'd've given, 'Uh, because there aren't any good bands playing, dickhead' as my reason. Closely followed by, 'What the hell am I doing phoning into BBC Radio? I must've totally lost my goddamned mind.'
Actually, I see Pete Doherty is 'playing' (he tries his best with what God neglected to give him, bless him; looks, any sort of talent, intelligence, a point to his life &c.). I wouldn't mind going just so I could shout abuse at that moon-faced, musically-illiterate junky who dresses like a gypsy from the seventies as he does an impression of a retard someone's given a guitar to for the first time/plays his set. Yeah, that might be worth the suffering. Better punch some hippy in the throat just to be on the safe side.
ROP?
According to the 15 seconds of BBC News I could stomach watching before I had to turn off or risk tearing my face off, lots of 'stars' have been paying their respects to the King of Pop. I wonder, has Macauley Culkin paid his respects yet? I know, I know, Macauley isn't exactly a star these days. Shit, he doesn't even have his own luminescence. But he and Michael used to be so…close.
ROP? Religion of peace, i.e., Islam.
Best of the Jacko jokes doing the rounds:
Due to the fact that Michael was already 99% plastic, it has been decided that instead of being cremated, he will be melted down into lego blocks so that the younger generation can play with him for a change!
I saw Jackson at Wembley in 1988. He was great, superb dancing, long show, genuine entertainer,
But "the greatest" is bollox.
Once again, the BBC alienates all those who see Jackson as just one performer among many. Aswell as those who believe – rightly or wrongly – that he was a child-molestor.
…………..
I heard 3 different BBC people reporting from UCLA Hospital on the night.
"'Bloated' Beeb sends 400 employees to cover Glastonbury despite hard economic times"
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196021/What-Mr-Marr-400-BBC-colleagues-Glastonbury-Gaga.html)
"The BBC was criticised for the huge scale of its Glastonbury operation yesterday, with some questioning whether it should be devoting so many publicly funded resources to a four-day music and arts event at a time of economic turbulence.
And some staff were accused of treating the occasion as a ‘junket’ after it came to light that several BBC executives had been given free tickets.
The BBC has admitted that 125 staff and 150 freelancers are at Glastonbury, either as presenters, producers, directors or technical crew…
Alongside them are about 130 short-term contractors hired by the BBC to offer ‘support’ at the 1,100-acre Somerset site. It says these include people who provide ‘some specialist technical services, rigging at the start and end of the project, and security’."
This is on the same scale as the Beeb's bloated coverage of the Beijing Olympics (437-strong) and more than double their bloated coverage of the U.S. elections (175-strong).
And yet, reading Archduke's comments above about Boss Springsteen, the cretins still can't get it right.
would like to see reporting like this:
from:
http://www.kunstler.com/
Farewell King of Pop
It's fascinating to follow the coverage of Michael Jackson's death, but especially the lavish tributes to his "genius" and general wonderfulness. He was, in fact, a monster, and an apt reflection of America's extreme collective cultural confusion. He was a distillation of the lies America tells itself. He was infantile, grandiose, horrifying, and probably dangerous. His "accomplishments" as a grown man amounted to little more than a half dozen popular songs. The arc of his life may have been tragic, but it was a tragedy of his own making. His sudden end brings to mind a remark Gore Vidal made upon hearing about the death of Truman Capote: "Good career move."
And more to the point — just how many beeboids are now in lotus land "reporting" on the demise of Jackson, and how much is it costing us victimised licence-payers? I saw at least three staffers on TV, including a woman who normally presents the "news" sitting down in London.
I'm sick of the public broadcaster's orgiastic reporting about Jacko or Glastonbury! There are more important things going on in the world, BBC! Do I really need to see 'glamorous' Emily Maitliss in LA (cause it's all about her at the end of the day)?????
What about the protests in Iran? Talk about the BBC burying news.
BBC, bunch of tossers.
BBC's 'News Front Page' is still dominated by Jackson story. (Of course, it should be relegated to the 'Entertainment page.) No doubt this story will be supplemented by some self-indulgent Beeboid pieces on the significance of Glastonbury, to them, especially to the 400 plus BBC staff paid to attend.
(Meanwhile in Iran…refer to e.g. 'Sunday Times', not to BBC.)
How many people does it take to tell us that somebody who was dead three days ago is still dead.
just checked the front page of the BBC news website, Iran is the second story, just below the Jackson story… the most read story (according to the website)is the Jackson story, the Iran story is the tenth most read… looks like the bbc are just catering to demand…
I suspect that the BBC have decided that 'bread and circuses' is the order of the day. The people need to be distracted from their problems caused by the BBC's mates, New Labour. Also, the BBC is petrified that people may start thinking less about Israel and more about Iran.
In a way, the BBC (by milking Jackson's death) are doing George Galloway's bidding: Any news about Iran distracts people from hating Israel. I also suspect it gives a chance for some junkets to LA-at our expense of course.
For BBC (at Glastonbury), 'Sky News' Iran:
"Local British Embassy Staff Held In Iran"
9:16am UK, Sunday June 28, 2009
"Several Iranian employees of the British embassy in Tehran are being held over the post-election unrest, reports the Fars news agency."
The BBC were only 9 minutes later –
Iran has detained eight local staff at the British embassy in Tehran on accusations of having a role in post-election riots, local reports said.
is now on the front page
I dont think that the MJ coverage is any different on the bbc than Sky or on the chav channel, ITV.
I dont think that there is an agenda of any sort – apart from the usual celeb-worship thing that almost all of the media goes for nowadays.
It's bread and circus, isnt it?
Let's face it – we are in the minority. The people who think that Eastenders is cringingly bad; who think that magazines like "Hello" are chav porn; who think that MMGW is just the Hippies Revenge… personally, I can't see any (non-violent) way out of the shit-hole nation that these assholes are creating. We're screwed.
THE JZA 9:29 am, (and BBC):
BBC News only second to SKY News – it confirms the Sky News advertisements.
And the BBC Iran item is now ranked second to the still deceased Jackson on BBC 'News Front Page'? Wow.
The Cuckoo said… Perhaps but Sky won't be sending 150 people out ot cover Jacko's funeral. Unlike the BBC. Sky manage with affiliate stations in the USa, why can't the BBC do that as well?
Be fair, without sending Emily and supporting cast over to LA how the hell would we work out the the family of someone who has just died is "devastated". (which somehow becomes headline breaking news on the serious news BBC)
I find this cynicism distressing. How can you doubt that he was a combination of St Francis of Assisi, Mozart, Albert schweitzer, Ghandi and "Dr King"? His passing looks suspicious to me – clearly we need to ask what Prince Philip had to do with it.
All I know is how to mourn his Earthly passing and rejoice that he resides with Diana smiling down on us mortals, preparing for his return when the Earth is a better safer place for children……
If anything the BBC reporting is TOO restrained – where is the footage of the mass hysteria (that must be going on). I remember the funeral of the Ayatollah Kohmenni, surely Jacksonians will have the same level of devotion.
Why the cynicism? He was excellent in Upstairs Downstairs.