The Michael Jackson Verdict

By now, most of us know that Michael Jackson was acquitted on all counts. Instead of giving my thoughts on the verdict, I'm going to give my thoughts on the coverage of the verdict:

-You have to love BET. Although they did a halfway decent job most of the time, they did something just unbelievable. While AJ and Jacque Reid were waiting in the 106 & Park studios for the verdict, they actually went to a video. It wasn't even a Michael Jackson video...it was the video for Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together." What the hell were they thinking?

-That was quite a Freudian slip that Charles Gibson had on ABC. After the verdict was read, he slipped up and said "He was found guilty on all counts." I guess that gives you an idea of what the media was anticipating.

-For some reason, FOX News was the only channel I saw that covered the jurors' post-verdict news conference. There was really nothing of note in the conference as the jurors dodged specific questions and basically reiterated that they looked at all the evidence and made sure to do the right thing. I think FOX News was looking for anything that would give an idea as to why the jury acquitted Michael Jackson.

-Back to BET...it was the only channel that genuinely celebrated the verdict. Of course, it's different for them since most of the people anchoring the coverage weren't journalists. I loved how the reporter on the scene made sure to emphasize that "a mostly white jury" acquitted Michael. Also, they had an interesting impromptu panel which consisted of AJ, Jacque Reid, Doug E. Fresh, and some guy in a suit named Dr. Jeff. They also received calls from people like Teddy Riley and L. A. Reid. Then, after their post-verdict live (really live) 106 & Park finished, they showed the BET.com Michael Jackson countdown and repeatedly put up a notice on the bottom of the screen that Michael had been found not guilty of all charges.

-Access Hollywood did a couple of interesting things. First, there was Tony Potts phone interview from Santa Maria. You could really tell that he didn't like Michael Jackson in the way he spoke. While other outlets described Michael as "stone-faced" while the verdict was read, Potts described him as "zombie-like." Also, he made a subtle jab at the end of his report. After noting that Michael could relax and do what he wanted, he added "...if he has any money left" at the end of his statement. That was totally uncalled for. Also, they did a report on Michael Jackson's life before the first child molestation charge that almost seemed like a death retrospective. Meanwhile, I had to wonder why Access Hollywood decided to play the footage of the verdict being read during the credits. It especially seemed strange because of the intro before it in which they noted that this is what Michael's fans wanted to see. Apparently, they didn't want to see this.

-Am I the only one sick of helicopters following cars or trucks as they go to or depart from a place? Someone needed to tell some of these channels that it really wasn't necessary to follow Michael's truck as he left for Neverland.