Dreading the next trial

Dreading the next trial

: Just as we get rid of Scott Peterson — well, once Matt Lauer stops airing his daily Amber Frey shows — we will get the Michael Jackson trial and it will take over all available media, knocking the dead in the Indian Ocean off the front page and the lead story on the evening news. It will be all-Jacko-all-the-time and I, for one, am dreading it.

The Smoking Gun gives us a preview today with a lengthy investigation of the case against Jackson.

But now, for the first time, The Smoking Gun has compiled an authoritative, behind-the-scenes account of the prosecution’s case against the King of Pop, who was indicted last April on ten felony counts for the alleged sexual abuse of a Los Angeles boy in early 2003. This story (and the ones linked at right) are based on a review of confidential law enforcement and government reports, grand jury testimony, and sealed court records provided to TSG by sources.

If the harrowing and deeply disturbing allegations in these documents are true, Jackson is a textbook pedophile, a 46-year-old predator who plied children with wine, vodka, tequila, Jim Beam whiskey, and Bacardi rum….

It’s an awful story. And if Jackson is guilty as charged, it’s an awful crime. But you can bet that “news” media will overdose us on this trial — beyond Peterson, beyond O.J. Whole cable channels and syndicated shows will be taken over by Jackson. Certain magazines might as well rename themselves Michael Weekly.

But I’m going to go way, way out on a limb and predict that blogs will not go nearly as Jacko-jerky. If that’s true, it could be because big media is overestimating our hunger for Jackson child-molestation news (which I think is quite likely). Or it could be because we may read the stuff but it’s not worth our time writing about. Or it could be that we have more pride than big media; we’re not pimping for circulation. We’ll see….

10 responses to “Dreading the next trial”

  1. John Costello Avatar

    What do you mean by ‘Weekly’?
    Jackson Hourly!

  2. Angelos Avatar

    Gawker gives us this sick summary, and I’m thankful because who wants to read six pages of this crap…

  3. rick d Avatar

    “Beyond O.J.?”
    Half of me laughs at the very idea; the other half shudders at the faintest possibility. I think O.J. was a one-time deal, a disharmonic convergence of many factors at exactly the right time. MJ’s case doesn’t seem to have the legs to sustain the full-on O.J. treatment.
    You know what would be worth blogging, especially photoblogging? Mikey’s supporters, especially the, uh, famous ones and the parents who continue to take their kids to the Ranch. Who the hell are these people?
    Pray for a plea-bargain.

  4. Linkmeister Avatar

    Or maybe bloggers have concluded that Jackson jumped the shark about 10 years ago, and don’t really care about him.

  5. Jim Treacher Avatar

    I was going to say, “Or it could be that it’s no longer news,” but Linkmeister beat me to it.

  6. Angus Jung Avatar
    Angus Jung

    Jarvis: “Certain magazines might as well rename themselves Michael Weekly.”
    Costello: “What do you mean by ‘Weekly’? Jackson Hourly!”
    There are hourly magazines? Man, talk about deadlines!

  7. jaed Avatar

    My first thought: If this “information” is false – disinfo fed to an outlet by prosecutors in order to poison public opinion against a defendant they want to convict – it would be far, far, oh so far from the first time. (Remember the leaks about that guy who found the bomb at the Atlanta Olympics, while they were trying to pin the bombing on him? The mainstream media disgraced themselves by lapping up this stuff and regurgitating it right out to the public.)
    My second thought: even if the blogs don’t cover it much, the Wonkette will have up-to-the-minute coverage!

  8. Matthew Sheffield Avatar

    I agree wholeheartedly with basically everything in your post.
    Bloggers won’t cover the Jackso trial as much as the TV and newspapers largely because bloggers, their readers, and forum participants are refugees from this kind of stuff in the media. I turned the channel the moment I heard Scott Peterson news come on the tube.
    Looks like I’ll have to keep my clicker handy.

  9. submandave Avatar

    Matthew echoes my thoughts. The pervasiveness of sensationalistic “news” like this in the MSM is precisely a key driver in the rapid ascendency of blogs as information brokers. While the tradition mass market gatekeepers will focus where they think the $$$ are, there will always be dedicated journalists out there still gathering real news. The blog world just makes finding those stories possible amidst the chaff of tabloid journalism.

  10. Matthew Sheffield Avatar

    I think there will always be those who are interested in these kinds of stories, similar to the fact that the New York Post, Daily News, and Newsday get far bigger numbers in NYC than the NYT and WSJ.
    I just wish there was a news channel on cable that wouldn’t waste its type with such detritus.