Michael Jackson is dead. I can’t say I’m shocked, but I definitely thought the guy had a couple more years to give. The DQ today is going to be a little different. Today I’m just going to talk a little bit about what happens on the web when something “important” happens.
I first saw that Michael Jackson had been rushed to the hospital on Twitter. Most of the media sites I checked had updated and had a breaking section that showed that he had been hospitalized. The discrepancies started when several more gossipy sites started reporting that he was dead. So far as I can tell, several websites jumped the gun on reporting Jackson’s death by more than 30 minutes.
In the crazy news cycle that we live in on the web, is there anything to gain by holding back until something has been confirmed? Can we afford to be sure? As a journalist it makes me hella uncomfortable to even consider putting information out there that hasn’t been affirmed in some way. As I sat with some fellow students at school today, we were comparing which sites had gone with the story that MJ had died and which ones were holding off. I tend to value a news source taking that extra couple of minutes to make sure, but I am not under the erroneous impression that I am an average consumer.
What do y’all think about the way that Michael Jackson’s death was reported?
I’ll leave you with some of my favorite Michael Jackson videos. RIP MJ. Thanks for the tunes and the dance parties you’ve inspired.
Thriller
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
Beat It
The Way You Make Me Feel
Smooth Criminal
Black or White
All videos are from Michael Jackson’s official YouTube page.
