Media: Old vs New

July 4, 2009 |

Web abandons Michael Jackson well before old media lets go

By Dave Parrack

The death of Michael Jackson has shown up the differences between old media such as newspapers and rolling news stations, and news media such as blogs, online video sites, and social networks. An important barometer of how each of these mediums work is how quickly they have let go of the story and moved on to the next big thing.

In a word (or three) old media hasn't.

Michael Jackson died in his L.A. home from cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009. The news of his heart attack and subsequent death from it broke on the Web first, with celebrity gossip site TMZ beating all others to the punch.

Interestingly though, it was arguably old media which proved its worth in this instance. The Web may have been faster with the news but it was the long-running traditional news organizations such as CNN and the BBC that people turned to for confirmation. The story on TMZ was treated with suspicion until it was verified by multiple other sources.

So here we are, 10 days after the event, and there's a new picture to look at - the one concerning how the media, both old and new, are treating the story now. BuzzMachine has done exactly that and shown how new media has long abandoned Michael Jackson and the circumstances surrounding his death, while old media continues to dig deep and give their audience what it thinks it wants.

Mentions of Michael Jackson on blogs went through the roof in the three days after he died, but they quickly dropped off and are now approaching the flat line state they were in just before he died. Twitter Trends was full of Michael Jackson and variant mentions for a couple of days following his death. Now, he barely even registers, unless or until a new story emerges concerning him. YouTube and Digg both show similar peaks and troughs.

Compare all this to the almost never-ending coverage of Michael Jackson, his family, his kids, his former partners, arrangements for the memorial and funeral, and tour tickets on television news channels and in newspapers and there's a clear definition between the two schools of reporting.

You could argue that this is because old media digs deeper, looking for new angles to enlighten their readers and viewers with, but I think it's more to do with the fact that the Internet moves at a frightening pace. What is page view gold one day is of no interest to anyone the next. I'm afraid the Web has already let Michael Jackson go, even though many of his fans don't yet seem able to.

Article source: http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2009/07/04/web-abandons-michael-jackson-well-before-old-media-lets-go/

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