Back to June 2009. MJ News. The other side

MissG · December 2010

The number of Jackson tracks being listened to on the internet radio Last FM leaped following his death

Within a few hours of the news of Jackson's death, his 1982 album Thriller was the No. 1 album on iTunes. Several of his discs were also in the top 10 of the digital store.

I am not sure if this side and perspective of the "news" related to MJ´s death have been posted already. In any case, during my "research" I came back to point 0 in order to understand any missing link within the investigation.

This two articles are very interesting, imo, regarding the phenomeom of Breaking News and how those spread online.

The same way that MJ death news were announced could work, may be, when MJ comes back. Internet as a media tool is very powerful, no doubt about it, but what about having concrete proof of a true event taking place?

The articles lead the way to other articles related to the internet media phenomenom, something I found very interesting considering that Michael Jackson was already more worth alive than dead just from the very 1st twitter message announcing that a call to 911 was made to save Michael Jackson´s life.

Michael Jackson's death and who to believe online
Friday, June 26, 2009 | 12:19 PM ET

By John Bowman, CBCNews.ca


I still remember the day Mr. Arseneau wheeled the school's (possibly the school's only) top-loading VHS tape player into the class. He had something special to show us.

I don't remember the date, but Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever aired March 25, 1983, so this screening of Michael Jackson's performance of Billie Jean probably took place late in the school year, as a special treat for us students.

I just watched it again on YouTube. Jackson's first moonwalk, and the crowd's reaction to it, gave me chills all over again.

It's cliche already to say that Jackson's death is one of those "where were you when" moments, but here's where I was, and I think a lot of people will have similar stories.

I first heard that Michael Jackson had been taken to hospital on Twitter, from @BreakingNews, which cited TMZ.com. The celebrity gossip blog was also the first to declare that Jackson had died.

The chatter on Twitter was already pretty intense after the news of his hospitalization broke, but it exploded with that first announcement of his death. There were thousands of tweets mentioning Michael Jackson posted every minute. Twitter, Wikipedia and even Google groaned under the pressure of so many people looking for information on the pop star's condition. Many people accepted the TMZ report as the truth, but some were skeptical, saying they would wait for a more reputable source before believing the Twitter rumours.

Here in the newsroom, we were trying to find another report to confirm that he had died, but the wires, Associated Press and Reuters, were already filing stories with TMZ.com as their source. This was a make-or-break moment for TMZ's credibility, said people in the newsroom. When the Los Angeles Times' breaking news blog, L.A. Now., updated saying Jackson was in a coma, that credibility was in doubt.

OK! Magazine filed a story on its website that appeared to independently confirm Jackson's death, but it relied heavily on TMZ.com for its information. The first independent confirmation from a main-stream media source was on L.A. Now, citing law enforcement and city officials. With that report, other news websites — including BBC News, CNN and CBC News — were satisfied and posted their tweets, alerts and stories.

So, as is often the case lately, the news broke on Twitter and blogs. Does that relegate traditional news outlets to the role of following and fact-checking what's happening in social media? People are always looking for reliable sources, and reputation goes a long way online. TMZ.com did a lot for its reputation with the Jackson story, and it's certainly a blog that knows its beat and does its own reporting, even if that reporting consists of following celebs, both physically and on Twitter.

It's hard to beat @BreakingNews in terms of speed. When Twitter's servers are working at full capacity, it is simply the fastest information dispersal medium there is. Unless you're there when it happens or watching it live on TV, you're likely to hear about it first on Twitter.

But both blogs and Twitter have a credibility problem. On another celebrity gossip blog, Perez Hilton, upon hearing that Jackson had been taken to hospital, speculated that he was "either lying or making himself sick" to avoid performing in his comeback concert. He later removed the speculation from the blog post.

And disinformation spreads as quickly as truth on Twitter. A fake news article saying Jackson had died of a drug overdose circulated on Twitter. False rumours that Jeff Goldblum and Harrison Ford both died while filming in New Zealand are still making the rounds. An Australian entertainment TV reporter went to air with the "news" of Goldblum's death.

(It turns out the same cliff that had "claimed" Goldblum's life was also responsible for the earlier "deaths" of Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise. See Snopes.com for the full history of this internet-spread cut-and-paste obit.)

It's not Twitter's fault that it's being used to spread falsehoods. It pretty easy to give nonsense the illusion of credibility in a tweet: just put "RT @cnnbrk:" in front of it. So it's up to individuals to check sources, follow links and make sure what they're reading is the truth.

How Michael Jackson's death shut down Twitter, brought chaos to Google... and 'killed off' Jeff Goldblum

By Claire Bates
Last updated at 11:55 PM on 26th June 2009
Read more: 

The internet came alive like never before as people around the world logged on to follow the stunning news of Michael Jackson's death.

The story created such a surge in online traffic that Google returned an 'error message' for searches of the singer's name as it assumed it was under attack.

And just seconds after the story broke on the American entertainment website TMZ.com, messages or 'Tweets' about the singer on the micro-blogging site Twitter doubled, leading to a temporary shutdown of the site.
TMZ

TMZ.com was the first to break the story that Michael Jackson had had a cardiac arrest

TMZ.com stole a march on traditional media outlets with its scoop that Jackson had died from a heart attack two hours before it was confirmed by the more 'reputed' sources of The LA Times and Associated Press.

Confusion reigned for several hours in newsrooms about whether Michael Jackson was in a coma or perhaps had already passed away - although some bloggers suggested the story was a hoax.

The 24-hour news services provided by Sky and BBC were forced to credit TMZ for their most up-to-date information.

American gossip blogger Perez Hilton wrote: '(Jackson) pulled a similar stunt when he was getting ready for his big HBO special in '95 when he collapsed at the rehearsal!

'Either he's lying or making himself sick, but we're curious to see if he's able to go on. Get your money back, ticket holders!'
How news of Jackson's death spread around the Internet:

Scroll down for a timeline of events...

Rumours abounded as major news channels were reluctant to run the story with TMZ.com as the only source.

Despite breaking stories such as Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic rant during a drunk driving arrest, the website is viewed by many as salacious and lacking credibility.

CNN waited for the coroner's confirmation before it stated Michael Jackson was dead, despite being owned by Time Warner, the same company as TMZ.

Harvey Levin, managing director of TMZ said: 'No matter what they say, people know we broke the story. That's how competitors handle it. There's no issue about our credibility.

'We were getting calls from everyone under the sun, established news operations, asking, "Are you sure?" That's such an odd question. We would not have published it if it were not true.'

This graph shows the surge in internet chatter about Michael Jackson on Twitter as reports came in that he had died

The number of Jackson tracks being listened to on the internet radio Last FM leaped following his death

Internet users however had no such qualms with the news source and turned to Twitter to spread the story.

By 10.30pm, Jackson-based Twitter traffic had risen to 12.26 per cent and peaked at 11.30pm with 22.61 per cent of all messages dedicated to the star. Nine of the ten most popular topics on Twitter were dedicated to the tragic king of pop by this time.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said: 'We saw an instant doubling of tweets per second the moment the story broke.

'It is the biggest jump in tweets per second since the U.S. presidential election.'

The Mail Online saw traffic double between 10pm and 12pm.

Meanwhile, computers running Google's news section interpreted the fusillade of 'Michael Jackson' requests as an automated attack.

As a defence mechanism, it responded to requests for information about Michael Jackson with squiggly letters known as a 'captcha.'

Just as online ticket buyers regularly do to complete their purchases, the Michael Jackson searchers had to enter the letters correctly to see Google's new results.
Demi Moore

Demi Moore was one of the earliest celebrities to post a message after reports the singer had died

On YouTube, traffic flowed to music videos of Jackson, while thousands posted videos of themselves sharing their thoughts on the legendary pop star.

Others were using Facebook to organise vigils and celebrations of Jackson. One in San Francisco with nearly 50 confirmed guests hoped to recreate the Thriller dance.

Within a few hours of the news of Jackson's death, his 1982 album Thriller was the No. 1 album on iTunes. Several of his discs were also in the top 10 of the digital store.

Celebrities and fans alike posted a deluge of tributes on Twitter - significantly most of these came after the LA Times and the Associated Press had confirmed Michael Jackson's passing.

Well-known Twitter fan Demi Moore wrote: 'I am greatly saddened for the loss of both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. Especially for their children.'
Enlarge jackson

Jackson fans leave their tributes on Facebook

Meanwhile another web hoax triggered false reports that American actor Jeff Goldblum had also died in a tragic fall while filming a movie in New Zealand.

It was suggested that Harrison Ford, who was working with Goldblum on a movie called Morning Glory, may have also met an untimely demise.

Unfortunately, an Australian entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins relayed the news of Goldblum's supposed death on Channel Nine's Today show.
Jeff Goldblum
Harrison Ford

Australian media reported Jeff Goldblum's (left) death last night following internet rumours he had fallen off a cliff. It was also suggested that Harrison Ford had died

This caused a flurry of calls to New Zealand police forcing Inspector Kerry Watson to issue a statement: 'Police at Kerikeri are receiving phone calls regarding a person falling from a cliff at Kauri Cliff,' she said.

'There is no such incident and police have no information to provide'.

Despite this, the viral was picked up by Twitter and spread like wildfire. The internet rumour became so popular that actor Kevin Spacey felt obliged to check if it was true.

He wrote on his Twitter page: 'Jeff Goldblum is alive and well. I just spoke to his manager. Stop these stupid rumors.'

How the news of Michael Jackson's final hours broke...

12.21pm (local LA time) (8.21pm BST) - Paramedics respond to a call at Jackson's home. He was not breathing when they arrived but had a personal physician with him. The paramedics performed CPR.

As this was happening: TMZ.com report Jackson, 50, suffered a heart attack and paramedics were unable to revive him

1pm (9pm) - Star's father Joe Jackson tells E! News 'he is not doing well.'

1.14pm (9.14pm) - Jackson arrives at hospital. A team of doctors attempt to resuscitate him for more than an hour.

1.35pm (9.35pm) – Jackson is in a coma and his family arrive at his bedside. Sister LaToya Jackson runs into the hospital sobbing.

1.45pm (9.45pm) - Hundreds of fans gather outside the hospital, anxiously waiting for news.

1.50pm (9.50pm) - 'He had a heart attack,' father Joe Jackson tells E! News by phone from Las Vegas. 'He is not OK.'

2.26pm (10.26pm) - Jackson is officially pronounced dead.

2.35pm (10.35pm) – Fire official tells LA Times that Jackson is in hospital. This is then reported by Associated Press

2.44pm (10.44pm) - TMZ.com breaks news Jackson has died, leading Google to crash.

3.27pm (11.27pm) – AP reports that a person with knowledge of the situation says Michael Jackson has died

4.25pm (12.25am) - CNN reports Jackson has died after confirmation from coroner's ofifice

Jermaine Jackson holds a press conference at the hospital and confirms Michael died after having a heart attack

In the early hours Jackson’s body is transferred to L.A County Coroner's Office.