The 2200
Apparently, 2,200 journalists have been issued credentials for the Michael Jackson trial.
As a frame of reference, at the height of combat in Iraq, there were 800 embedded reporters.
So on one hand, we have 2,200 journalists covering the trial of one man. On the other, we had 800 journalists covering a war in a nation with a population of 24.5 million--though that's only counting the ones "embedded" with the U.S. military. Seems reasonable.
The big question, of course, is whether things look like this because this reflects the interest of news consumers, or does it look like this because the corporate media and U.S. culture pushes the cult of celebrity as a distraction.
One sign of hope: Despite the shitty-ass coverage, the a majority of Americans are now against the war and Bush's approval ratings suck.
originally posted by zagg