COMMENTS: Michael Jackson, Music Icon
Michael Jackson, the self-styled King of Pop, is dead. The network nightly newscasts had been all geared up to run obituary tributes to one icon of '70s mass culture. Actress Farrah Fawcett, the body on the best-selling poster of all time, as expected succumbed to cancer at the age of 62. Then mid-afternoon, a second icon of '70s mass culture, pop singer Jackson, the voice on the best-selling music CD of all time, unexpectedly succumbed to cardiac arrest at the age of 50. Of the two, Jackson was obviously Story of the Day--the bigger star, the more sensational demise. Even though his death was officially declared only 15 minutes before airtime, Jackson coverage accounted for 41% (24 min out of 58) of the three-network newshole.
All three newscasts had a correspondent outside the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles where Jackson was rushed by ambulance after collapsing in his rented Bel Air mansion. ABC's Mike von Fremd (no link) relayed the "startled, absolutely shocked" mood of the fans who were gathering outside the hospital. NBC's Michael Okwu, too, picked up on "a collective sense of shock." CBS' Ben Tracy heard a fraternity house across the street pumping out Jackson tunes in tribute.
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