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Monday, June 29, 2009
Michael Jackson performs before a sold out crowd for his Bad tour at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in 1988. (AP Photo/Alan Greth, file)

The cable TV and networks devoted almost around-the-clock coverage the last few days to the death of pop star Michael Jackson. Even some prime time shows were preempted in order rehash Jackson's life and demise. By day two or three, it was clear there wasn't much "new" news to report. But that hasn't stopped TV from showing and re-showing video clips of Jackson, while recycling interviews with friends, associates and so-called experts to comment on his life and death. Look for the Jackson coverage to go on and on, especially as the summer news cycle slows.

Granted, Jackson was a major star with global reach. His death at age 50 was a surprising end to an interesting and colorful life, marked with some odd twists and turns. Jackson's death deserved proper and full coverage. But the blanket TV repetition for days on end has done little to advance the story and underscores how little substance exists when it comes to TV news, especially the cable networks that have lots of time to kill and not much of value to say. Though that doesn't stop many TV talking heads from prattling on.

A column in the Los Angeles Times asks if the TV coverage is too much. For anyone who has been watching TV the last few days, the answer is pretty clear.

 

Posted by Paul Davies @ 1:23 PM  Permalink | 3 comments
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Posted 05:44 PM, 06/29/2009
DonQ
"Sic transit gloria mundi" In ten years, the name Michael Jackson will have joined the ranks of the forgotten. He was already headed that way before his demise. This media blast is nothing but scavengers picking at the poor man's bones.
3 comments
About The Inquirer Editorial Board
Harold Jackson, a winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing, grew up in Birmingham, Ala., during the civil rights movement. He graduated from Baker University in Baldwin, Kan., in 1975, with a degree in journalism/political science. He has also worked at the Birmingham Post-Herald, United Press International, the Birmingham News, and the Baltimore Sun. He was at The Inquirer in the mid-1980s, returned in 1999, and became editorial page editor in 2007.

Paul Davies is the deputy editor of the Editorial Page. His newspaper career has spanned more than 20 years and includes stints at The Wall Street Journal and the Philadelphia Daily News. He graduated from the University of Delaware and received a masters in journalism from Columbia University, where he was also a Knight-Bagehot Fellow. He was born in Philadelphia and still lives in the city.

Tony Auth began drawing while bedridden for a year and a half at the age of five. He graduated from UCLA in 1965 and worked for six years as a medical illustrator while doing three cartoons a week for various college newspapers. Tony has been happily ensconced as The Inquirer’s editorial cartoonist since 1971. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1976, and has won numerous other awards, including five Overseas Press Club Awards, the Sigma Delta Chi award for distinguished service in Journalism, and the Herblock and Thomas Nast Prizes. Tony is married to Eliza Drake Auth, a painter of realistic landscapes and portraits.

Trudy Rubin is the foreign affairs columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and a member of The Inquirer’s editorial board. Her column appears twice weekly in The Inquirer and runs regularly in many other newspapers around the United States. She is the author of Willful Blindness: The Bush Administration and Iraq.

Kevin Ferris is an assistant editor on the Editorial Board who oversees the Sunday Currents section and writes a weekly column on a wide range of issues. In his 15 years on the board, he’s handled letters to the editor and the Community Voices pages and has been Commentary Page editor. He started with The Inquirer in 1986, and his assignments have ranged from the copy and news desks to the Chester County bureau and the national/foreign desk.

As an editorial writer for The Inquirer for the past two decades, Russell Cooke has written on a wide range of topics covering government, legal, civic and social issues. Before joining the Editorial Board, he was a reporter in the Inquirer’s City Hall bureau.

Editorial writer Dave Boyer joined The Inquirer in 2002. He writes about politics, government, the economy, sports and many other subjects, but draws the line at writing about "Jon & Kate Plus Eight." He has won journalism awards and insists bribery was not involved. A native of Allentown, Boyer graduated from Penn State. He and his wife reside in Center City, where they enjoy strolling and paying the wage tax.

Melanie Burney joined the editorial board in January 2008 after covering education at the Inquirer for eight years. She previously worked at the Associated Press in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. She is a graduate of Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Josh Gohlke has been The Inquirer’s op-ed editor since last year, editing the daily commentary page and writing occasional editorials. He came to the Inquirer after eight years at The Record of Bergen County, N.J., first as a reporter covering local and state politics and government and ultimately as the deputy editorial page editor. He also worked as a reporter for several smaller papers in New Jersey and California. Josh was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from Stanford University. He lives in Philadelphia.