Viewers question coverage of Jackson’s passing
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Viewers question coverage of Jackson's passing...
The coverage of Michael Jackson?s death has bothered some of you, particularly in relation to the amount of coverage it received when compared to Farrah Fawcett?s passing.The coverage of Michael Jackson’s death has bothered some of you, particularly in relation to the amount of coverage it received when compared to Farrah Fawcett’s passing.
Ginger Bowman called in to say, “Farrah Fawcett’s contribution needed to be overriding Michael Jackson’s because her message was far superior to the betterment of people and I’m sorry she has not received the credit that was superseded by Michael Jackson. I hope in the future people will balance the kind of presentation. Farrah Fawcett received an unjust dismissal on this day both are being remembered.“
Ricky Flinchum called to say, “I think they need to lay off this Michael Jackson thing. Farrah Fawcett has passed away. I’m being told that he was an icon; he was the King of Pop and everything. She was a very good star. I think they’re blowing it way out of proportion.”
WSLS responds: thanks for the comments. I appreciate your thoughts on this topic. There is no questioning Farrah Fawcett’s status as a star. As such, we had planned to do more extensive coverage of her passing as had NBC which originally planned to air an hour-long Dateline special. But, in news sometimes other events and breaking news can unexpectedly change our plans. Jackson’s death was breaking at the news hour and was completely unexpected. That is part of the reason it ended up receiving more attention. The other reason: his status as an international icon. Say what you want about his personal life, there’s no denying that Jackson was one of the biggest entertainers in the world and that he helped shape an entire generation of music.
Last week, Storm Team Ten Meteorologist Jeff Haniewich returned from a week long trip to Alaska. He was there with a group of people form Southwest Virginia and we showed some of the pictures from his trip which was over the top for Bill Ray of Hot Springs. Ray wrote, “Do you really think you are serving the public good by dedicating air time for postcards from Alaska? If I want to see vacation pictures I can always visit my brother-in-law.“
WSLS responds: Thanks for the comment. We never show vacation pictures from our employees, but this was an exception. Let me explain why: Jeff made this trip with local viewers who signed up to go along with him. That gave the trip a more local feel and that’s why we shared the group pictures.
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Reader Reactions
The more you talk and read about it, the more you encourage people to write about it. This applies to a lot of things—not just celebrity gossip.
There will never be a KING of Rock and Roll that will outshine Elvis. He will and always has been the King. He and Michael were both drug addicts and this took their lives. Neither of them is someone I want to have my children pattern their lives after. Elvis adored Priscilla and respected her as the mother of his child. He still owns Graceland where his family still gathers for special events. Elvis is buried at his home on Graceland. Michael has no respect for the Mothers of his children, does not own Neverland and his family does not gather there for any events. Michael was renting a home. Yes there has been far toooo much about Michael Jackson. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Karl Mulden, Billy Mays all passed away and all we heard about was Michael Jackson.
Sorry Michael Jackson is not any more special than all of these others and what about Farrahs son and family and all the rest. Its all personal. You have all decided we want to hear about Michael Jackson and we really don’t.
Vicki
While I understand completely the shock of the world over Michael Jackson’s death, I feel that this network, as well as all the others, did a huge injustice to Farrah Fawcett after her passing. I learned of her death at 10:00 a.m. via the internet, and had set my televison to record some of the specials that were supposed to air about Ms. Fawcett, only to find out that all of them were totally dismissed after Michael Jackson died. Again, I was as shocked as anyone when I heard the news, but Farrah used her stardom positively, dedicating the last 2+ years of her pain filled life to make us more knowing about cancer and how to fight it. However, after 5:00 p.m. on June 25, 2009, it seemed the entire media world sent out the message “who’s Farrah Fawcett”? Dreadful!
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