Michael Jackson – The King of All Traffic

On July 8^th, 2009, I wrote a post connecting Michael Jackson’s death to an uptick in traditional media (read: How Michael Jackson Brought Back Traditional Media). Since then, a bunch has happened (including the release of This Is It), so I wanted to reexamine the theme. This is the resulting post, which is a story of apology, reality and thanks – maybe even some SEO advice – I’m not really sure myself, but here goes…

First, a reality check and an apology… The death of The King of Pop was a monumental media frenzy event that lent eyeballs for ALL types of media, not just the fledgling print and broadcast. So, while my original assertion was right that he helped bring back traditional media (even if for a short time), the reality is that even if a true rise in readership/viewership occurred, it would never be enough to bring back traditional media against its new, online counterparts. I will now apologize for making these exaggerated claims: I’m sorry my readers, I really am.

Second, the real reality (meaning as it impacts me)… I shudder at the thought of calling my ‘work’ with Iron Mountain in a Concrete Jungle new media, but it literally is just that, a blog, if you will. Having said that, what really made me switch gears on my original assertion was the traffic that Michael Jackson generated for this blog… for me, it’s unprecedented (sure it’s my first true blog, but that’s semantics).

Finally, the thank you… Since July 8th, I’ve received over 100 clicks on this post through search engines alone. In fact, “Michael Jackson” is THE most popular search engine term which was used to find my blog. Furthermore, my top 3 are: michael jackson, michael jackson clip art, google michael jackson... just for my lil ol non-blog-like blog...Mind blowing... which is exactly why I wanted to write this up and thank all those people for finding, visiting and reading my blog, as well as to offer them an update (and more things to search for).

Maybe now the spotlight will finally let Michael rest, I’ll try to take care of that at least in this particular media… then again, we’ll see how many clicks this will generate in 5 months. One can only guess…

Niche content, Palinism vs. Liberalism and the plight of Newsweek

Palin

While watching my somewhat regular 15-20 minutes of O’Reilly Factor every other day, I caught an interesting segment with Bernard Goldberg. He and Baba over there, were discussing (nay, dissecting) the Rick Pearlstien story on Palin in Newsweek, mulling over the overwhelming negative tone coming from a ‘left wing activist writer’ as they called him. What got me thinking was the focus on the survival of Newsweek as a media publication part of the discussion…

Note:I read the story after watching the exchange on the air, which was very heated about the level of criticism Mr. Pearlsien gave ex Gov. Palin. While possibly seeing their point while watching, I didn’t find the story to be vicious at all or bellow the belt while reading… if anything it was more about OReilly/Limbaugh/Beck backend of the story that got him heated more; and no, I don’t like Palin.

When I was growing up in an avid various press reading family, the one magazine I always remember being around is Newsweek… that is until one day, my dad got enraged at the number of ads impeding his reading flow, cancelling and cursing the pub for nearly a decade. Despite this hiatus, I got used to Newsweek being my de-facto consumer news weekly, until encountering the TIME magazine staple at the in-laws.

Either way, going back to the segment spot… the point that Bernard Goldberg was making is that all of these publications (as is most media) are fighting for survival and thus seeking out niche plays to satisfy the bottom line. Given the various perspectives out there on Newsweek’s coverage tone (i.e., the 2008 campaign coverage of Palin, read: Has Newsweek Gone (Too) Liberal? or Newsweek: Palin Too Common, Too Stupid to be VP, She's 'Dangerous'), can Newsweek go too niche into liberalism by shunning Palinism outright? And, how niche is niche, in terms of content and the changing face of media nowadays any way?

Another major trend I’ve been observing at as part of my industry monitoring is the rise of niche content as a possible silver bullet to the media’s woes. The troubles facing Newsweek, TIME, et al (unfortunately now also including my personal favorite BusinessWeek, read: McGraw-Hill Puts BusinessWeek on Auction Block) unite them in the need to hone in their messages to their core strengths and please a niche audience to maintain a base for survival… easy for me to say.

But it does seem to have an ounce of possibility to work (think: WSJ/NYT editorial, Washington Post/Washington Times, etc.)… if my two families could recognize the coverage tone between Newsweek and TIME in the 90’s enough to drive them to a distinct choice… why not harness those wings and fringes then really go all out?

O’Reilly was upset that Newsweek didn’t disclose that Mr. Pearlstein was a ‘left wing activist writer’ versus the ‘author’ credit they printed him with… to quote my beloved Judge Judy: “Baloney!” Even if true, why should they disclose more (agreeing with Bernard Goldberg again); he’s not a first time contributing writer. Bill is once again huffing up hot air about something he himself is a part of. As centrist as he says he is (no spin zone and all), everyone knows he is a conservative talk show host, and he continues to be named alongside Rush in print, which I think always sets him off.

I see no radical change in the coverage of Newsweek toward liberalism (even if anti Palin, I’m looking at you Peggy Noonan)… but maybe, just maybe, Newsweek is circling the wagons around a theme and message that works for them (the trimmed down redesign that Newsweek underwent recently is another possible sign)… possibly taking a chapter out of Bill’s play book, hm?

I don’t know, but for me it’ll always be that magazine that Dad read, however liberal or anti-Palin or over-stuffed with ads it is… I do like the old design better though, but it’s good to not have as much celebrity focus anymore… consider your wagons circled.

How Michael Jackson Brought Back Traditional Media (for now...)

“The media is dead, long live the media!”

Coupled with recent ZDNet op-ed from Google’s Jeremy Allison with the same headline, this tweet from Tom Foremski for #mediatalklive forum got me thinking… has the recent wave of exorbitant Michael Jackson coverage in traditional, new and social media alike brought the dueling mediums closer together? Or again, pit them one against the other?

It’s no secret that it wasn’t just the tabloids that loved anything and everything Michael Jackson, undeniably making all media have a hand in the draining of his celebrity in one way or another. The last few weeks were no different, with one exception… the role of social media in the three ring circus that is ‘Jacko’ coverage.

However musically talented he was, the sheer fact that the gloved one took over every form of media imaginable for over a week (indeed the true king of ALL media, sorry Howard) is already more unparalleled than Thriller ever was… the media’s in-sync chorale around the life and death of Michael Jackson may have brought back traditional media, even if only for a little while.

While the story did break on TMZ.com, ‘Jacko’ coverage always lived in print and broadcast. For more than a few days, I saw more people watch TV in homes and offices or read newspapers on NYC subways and buses than I ever have. Social media seemed to discuss various news and late night segments while linking to commemorative print editions… sounds like a gasp of relief for traditional media to me.

I understand that this could all be a perception and observational mistake on my part, or maybe it’s just the world’s way to show appreciation for a talent that’s gone… but I will say this, the 'filter' of traditional media props up the old medium against its newly minted counterparts online, specifically in situations as controversial as the life and death of Michael Jackson…

To me, the grieving fans and the tasteful homage paid to the King of Pop by traditional media was something to behold… however even when watching the CNN/Facebook broadcast of the memorial, the sidebar was peppered with rough and distasteful commentary from ‘the public,’ also being echoed in the trending topics on Twitter (read: Michael Jackson Memorial Takes Over Twitter), as much adoration as hate present. And when New York Rep. Peter King wanted to air his angst against the media orgy where did he go? Fox News? CNN? No, Youtube (see the rant here).

To paraphrase a quote from 140TC, "crowdsourcing ruins everything, because not everyone has good taste"… this mega event is no exception; editors, producers and filters of traditional media showed the last few weeks why they are still relevant, if anything by showing the very real possibility that the masses can be so cruel, if just given the chance.

If not for a moment, Michael Jackson brought back old media… and gave them a breath of fresh air as it continues to move further and further underwater.