I have just about had enough of the the British media’s wall-to-wall coverage of the death of the US singer Michael Jackson. Throughout yesterday and today, from flagship radio news programmes to prime-time television news, it’s Michael Jackson who dominates the airwaves.
What’s so special about Mr Jackson? The ridiculous assertion by the BBC and others that he is “the world’s most famous singer” is indicative of nothing but that broadcaster’s – and, to be fair, the rest of the British media’s – ethnocentric view of the world. It’s the same when they refer to Britain and the US as the “international community”.
There is nothing special about Mr Jackson. Some like the man and/or his music, others don’t. Personally, I like neither the man nor his music, and I can’t – and have never been able to – stand the sight of his prancing about on video, crotch in hand.
I will remember Michael Jackson as someone who became increasingly weird as time passed. Although in his trial in the US in 2007 he was found not guilty of child sex abuse, he was never able to cast off the shadow of paedophilia.
I will also remember Mr Jackson as an African-American who was ashamed of his blackness and, consequently, tried to change the colour of his skin. His assertion that he has a skin disease lacks credibility: compare and contrast photographs of him when he was black with ones of him as a white weirdo and you will see that he not only seemed to have tried to change his colour, but also his negroid features, e.g. his lips and nose.
Let’s hope that the British media will very soon turn their attention to something more worthy of airtime and column inches. It’s not that there is a dearth of important news in the UK and the rest of the world.
