Comments on: How many Iranian deaths equal one popstar death?

By: confessions

confessions — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:47:37 +0000

pedro: only because your own sense of humanity is skewiff.

By: Pedro

Pedro — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:59:14 +0000

confessions. Your sudden iterest in a Christian figure baffles me.

By: confessions

confessions — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:42:40 +0000

@ stephenD: in the sense she touched more lives than Dianna.

By: HegemonyOrBust

HegemonyOrBust — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:57:29 +0000

Well, I’ll be fucked

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/309080/michael_jackson_death_knocks_google_twitter_offline

Ethan Zuckerman, a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, said that Jackson quickly became the most popular topic on the micro-blogging site as soon as he was rushed to hospital yesterday.

“My twitter search script sees roughly 15% of all posts on Twitter mentioning Michael Jackson,” wrote Mr. Zuckerman on his Twitter page. “Never saw Iran or swine flu reach over 5%.”

By: StephenD

StephenD — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:40:00 +0000

confessions@13, in what sense? That more people might’ve been relieved by the death of Mother Teresa?

Read what Christopher Hitchens has to say about Mother Teresa. I’m being lazy, I guess, but Hitchens is meticulous in referencing the evidence in this case.

By: podrick

podrick — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:28:48 +0000

Intitial autopsy results are out and the blame is being pointed at the boogie. It seems no blame is attached to the sunshine, moonlight or the good times.

Sorry, I will close the door on my way out.

By: Jeremy Sear

Jeremy Sear — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:05:04 +0000

Mark – I should’ve said, “…media dishonesty and foolishness”. This wasn’t dishonesty, but sites like the ABC and The Age certainly went way overboard.

Pedro – obviously Iran’s been discussed all over the place. I haven’t seen any particular media conduct on that story that’s seemed to me to qualify for Pure Poison, which is why we haven’t covered it here. Pure Poison is, as I said earlier, not a news site – we’re watching the watchers, as it were.

The point I’m making in this post is that developments continue, and there’s much more to be usefully explored (and reported) by news organisations on that topic than you’d guess by comparing coverage in Australian online media today of Jackson with that of coverage of the ongoing chaos in Iran.

By: baldrick

baldrick — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:48:25 +0000

Considering your comments on Iran and what we should do Jeremy, I find that intellectually dishonest. (yes on your own blog……)

And cause more people will (rightly or wrongly) remember Wacko Jacko’s death more than the outrageousness that is going on in Iran (I know I spelt outrageousness wrong but I don’t care), its not a big deal to pank on people for covering his death.

He was good, not my favourite, but his talent was clear for all to see…ignoring the latter years.

By: marktwain

marktwain — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:35:56 +0000

How is reporting on Michael Jackson’s death “dishonesty”? The fact that these sites have gone into meltdown today is evidence that this is what internet users want to read about. And it is also why you have posted a Michael Jackson blog today. This is what is known in the blogosphere as “hypocrisy”. Perhaps you would like to look up the meaning of the word in the dictionary – you know, one of those old-fashioned book things.

The news websites have reported on Iran, but obviously few people are interested or the stories would have scored more hits. That is the fault of the reader, not the website.

By: confessions

confessions — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:35:23 +0000

the same thing happend when princess Di died…on the same day as Mother Teresa. But because di was a *celebrity* there was blanket media coverage for weeks after her death and sweet FA about mother teresa, whose death arguably meant more to more people than Di’s.

As soon as jacko’s death was announced sky news left their regular programs and basically carried that story for hours on end. And what RobJ said on the open thread: the Liberals must be breathing a sigh of relief right now.