I just read a piece from Jack Shafer, a news commentator on the coverage of the news. He condemned the general population of big name news outlets cashing in on the tragedy that remained very much mysterious and probably outright weird. Shafer accused the big names in news coverage could not stop inserting their anecdotes into the coverage.

Shafer’s mockery over at Slate, “Have I told you about the time I interviewed Michael Jackson?“, not only rang true, it was an astute observation of one thing inevitable. The news outlets, major and grand as they were, simply could not stop fawning over the “King of Pop.”

Here’s an example from he Washington Post, the big daddy that hired Shafer, who included a pretext to remind readers how big of the “glass house” he was about to lob his stone. On the front page, there was an advertisement that went like this:

In Memoriam

Michael Jackson Commemorative Issue

Celebrate the life and legend of Michael Jackson with a commemorative page showcasing The Washington Post’s special tribute to the “King of Pop”

Next to it, aligned to the right, was an image of the newspaper’s front page on the day that followed Jackson’s death. A clear exploit if you ask me. But have you seen the Wa. Post peddling its front page when Barrack Obama walked the parade into his White House?

Seems to me there is a larger narative at work. With anything as big and grand as the King’s death and Obama’s incoming reign, not only the Wa. Post, but also the NY Times, TIME and Newsweek, will peddle some sort of “commemorative issue.”

And it works. Americans, part of the human collective, believes in all things “The Moment.” Just as the major news writers going into anedotal mode, the average Americans too. They would talk about, as I imagined, their favorite tracks from MJ. They would talk about how they watched the King of Pop self-destructed over the years. Jackson became “Jacko” or “Wacko” on the tabloid-like Fox News.

I too had my Michael Jackson moment. And following his death, I did grieve and revisited two of my favorites, Billie Jean and Smooth Criminal. But if I worked at the big daily, national papers, I suppose you have to thread carefully here because there are those like Shafter, who thought the anectdotal mode was not only self-serving, it was pretensious.

On this Shafer was right. The context here was to cash in after providing questionable “objective” coverage. But I feel his effort remains nothing but quixotic. With big, unthinkable events like this, including the murder of the Wichita-area abortion provider, George Tiller, so long as there are consumer of news, there will be providers giving out anecdotal junkets, hoping to tie ourselves into the “I was there” page.

I know I did.