Support him? How? Keep the worms out of his corpse?

These people have no lives. Deustchland uber alles, indeed.

Colby Hall writes:  ”…cultish freak-show fan base that it engendered.”

So, Mr. Hall, you’re basing your perception of Michael Jackson admirers on a few fans who show up at the trial?  What about Jackson’s fans who hold down full time jobs and have neither the desire nor the time to traipse down to the courthouse?  Millions of Jackson’s fans are intelligent, articulate and, I assure you, anything but cult-like.  They are, however, repulsed by what they see as malicious intent by members of the media such as yourself for nearly 20 years of Jackson’s life.  The fact that you would call his career “freakishly” successful indicates exactly what his fans protest:  the constant ridicule, mockery and denigration of an exceptional human being for nothing more than ratings or drawing eyeballs to a crass headline.  No other high profile person of the modern age endured such abuse by the collective poison pen of a malignant media hell bent on his destruction.  You should be ashamed of yourself for joining the cult of yellow journalists who were responsible for (literally) torturing a man who contributed so much to the joy of several generations.  Perhaps you should spend some time with those who admire Mr. Jackson for who he truly was–father, son, brother, outstanding entertainer and kind humanitarian–not the caricature created by the media.  You might recognize physicians, lawyers, accountants, engineers, professors, writers, actors and fellow performers among his many supporters who are disgusted by the way media exploited Jackson’s caring nature for their own ignorant interests.  You, sir, are the reason the once honorable profession of journalism is swirling the bowl with no relief in sight.  Fluuuuush!    

PaulG85, “support him” means to honor his memory and continue to acknowledge his achievements in entertainment and humanitarianism so that creeps like you don’t have the last word.  Michael Jackson accomplished more in one day of his magnificent life than you’re likely to accomplish in all the days of your obviously mediocre existence.  Jealous, much?  

Mr. Hall, I invite you to view this 20-minute video and see if you recognize yourself therein.

http://vimeo.com/28381782

Agree with LibelFreeZone.  Thing is, most of Jackson’s supporters are, in fact, responsible people with jobs, homes and children.  We are not seen on news outlets because we would not fit the meme of what the media has erroneously portrayed as Mr. Jackson’s advocates.  Personally, I’m a physician and cringe to see the fringe sect of fans highlighted constantly.  There was nothing ‘freaky’ about Mr. Jackson’s contributions to the arts, entertainment, conservation movement and the many families and children he supported and helped during his life.  So, Mr. Hall, perhaps you would consider abandoning your middle school mind set, grow up and stop repeating the old, tired tapes surrounding Mr. Jackson.  

Mr. Hall, I strongly object to your description of Michael Jackson fans as a “cultish freak-show fan base.”  When I have attended Mr. Jackson and family’s concerts or events, I have found the fans to be the nicest, most wonderful people that you would ever want to meet.  If you had ever attended these events, you would see that Mr. Jackson and the Jackson family have fans of all ages, races, and nationalities that they bring together in a movement and environment of peace, love and understanding.  You cannot judge this fan base by a few unruly fans that may have been overcome by emotion at the Conrad Murray trial.

Also, the majority of Mr. Jackson’s fans are intelligent, caring individuals with professional occupations who appreciate not only his great creativity and success in the music world, but also his great philanthropy and concern for his fellow man, the Earth, and the plight of impoverished and sick children all over the world.

I think you should give more thought to your articles before you insult millions of people for the obnoxious behavior of a few.

Mister Hall, if you want to cover a cult-ish fan base with no real motive for devotion, I suggest you go write an article about Lady Gaga and her irrelevant and irrationally attached mostly pre-teen fan base. 

Michael Jackson fans are not in any way, shape, or form “cultish” or “freakish.” They are intelligent human beings who recognize media bias and injustice against a human being when they see it. Case-in-point: your article. Your tone is clearly biased and not objective–last time I checked, journalistic integrity relied upon objective and non-opinionated coverage of a given event or person. By calling Jackson and his fan-base names, you’ve exposed yourself as a person who thoroughly lacks integrity and is basically a no-good, parasitic tabloid “reporter.” 

We will not stand by and watch as media vultures seek to exploit a dead man for ratings, headlines, soundbites, and whatever else they can get. This is basic standard of human conduct, a belief in our society that every man should be treated with dignity and respect–this includes Michael Jackson. Woe to those who fail to adhere to these basic standards of human decency, as they will be exposed for what they are–their own words will figuratively slay them by stripping them of any and all credibility. 

“Freakishly” successful career? Mr. Jackson, was extraordinarily gifted, generous, and loved by millions of people around the world. That a small percentage feel moved to show their admiration for Mr. Jackson and his body of work (over 40 years!), by either mimicking his dress style, or holding vigil outside the courtroom, is in no way an indication of a cult.
As a former journalist, I am embarassed when I read reports such as yours. It shows lack of respect to a truly worthy human being. And it is insulting to ordinary citizens who wish to express their outrage at a life needlessly shortened by gross medical negligence.
Strange that fans of Elvis’s are never written about in such degrading tones, in spite of the fact that they show up at his former residence dressed as their hero. Does race have anything to do with it? Or are you just following the herd of tabloid journalists that found Mr. Jackson an easy target? Either way, you’re on the wrong track. If you want to be respected as a journalist, you have to write about your subjects with respect – whether you agree with them or not.

Poor LITTLE Colby. Mr. Michael Jackson has millions and millions of fans on the planet. Most of those people work, have a proper education, are intelligent and have nothing to do with the kind of mediocrity you are talking about.

I suppose if you go to a Kiss show, or a Lady Gaga show, or any event with superstars, you’ll find some “crazy fans”, as you say, that are maybe enthousiastic, but they are not the right representation of E-V-E-R-Y fan.

Michael won more than 200 awards, had more than 40 hits on the Billboard, gave more than 500 millions to charities in his life, and was the most generous artist on earth, as listed in the Guiness Book of World Records. There is nothing freaky or strange about the megastar. But “It was strange what he had to deal with”, as said by Rev Sharpton.          

Unfortunately, the way you judge someone like Mr.Jackson shows your ignorance and the narrow-minded person you are. I am sorry this is making you write like an amateur, and keeping you from writing high-quality articles.   

Hopefully you’ll gain maturity one day. and start searching for true facts. Also, I wish you to try to do nothing but EXCELLENT work in the future, highly above the standards, as Mr.Jackson always did. 
   

Mr Hall – gag me. You are a hateful biased yellow journalist and with thoughts like this are swirling in your head and actually reaching print then I feel sorry for you and anyone you come in contact with. Ick I can’t even comment on the slanderous things  you wrote.

Coby Hall wrote, “One the stranger effects of Michael Jackson freakishly successful pop music career is the cultish freak-show fan base that it engendered.”
 
The only thing I find “freakish” is your article, Coby Hall.  What rock did you crawl from under?  How many Jackson fans have you sat down and talked to?  I’m an educated woman who admires Jackson, not only for his genius as a singer, composer, writer and producer of music, but also for his philanthropic endeavors to help those less fortunate worldwide.  Why don’t you write an article about his humanitarianism and how he wanted to spread love through his music; it would be time well spent and perhaps even serve to educate the populous about something positive for a change.

If you were toi check it out you would find that Michael Jackson has been listed as recognised by the US  Congress as a ‘global humanitarian….’and ‘celebrated as accomplished in the world of the arts and entertainment…..’   The Senate stood for a minute’s silence on June 26th.    Even Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth of England ordered the Horse Guards band to play his songs in front on Buckingham Palace the day after he died.   He is emerging as a hugely powerful influential figure in history who was honoured by presidents, royalty and politicians.   I could on and on.

No, MJ’s hardcore fans are a cult. Have you ever seen the footage of these people camped outside his hotel room for days, bawling if they even see a glimpse of his glove waving from a window?
These are the kind of loonies who flew overseas to hang around the courthouse during his legal troubles.

Society of Professional
Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics

An ethical journalist seeks truth and reports it.

You, Mr. Hall, are not an ethical journalist.

You are among a growing list of commentators who deluge unsuspecting
publics with innuendos, lies, and rumors, and pass them off as truth. We live
in a society where the media gets away with this, and makes money in the
process. For over 25 years, Michael Jackson suffered at the hands of a media
that wanted to make money off of him. The media did not care if it was true.
Everyone wanted a piece. And many of them would do anything to get it, claiming
First Amendment privilege while simultaneously trampling another person’s civil
rights.

The media could broadcast or print anything about Michael
because if it was about Michael Jackson, it didn’t matter if it was true.

Think about that. Think about how that shaped public opinion.

Learn more: http://vimeo.com/28381782

It continues today. You and your ilk engage in ignorant
hyperbole, passing off your biased, narrow perspective as truth regarding the
millions who advocate for Michael Jackson; for his children, his legacy, and
his vindication in mainstream media.

I am a trained, credentialed journalist, Mr. Hall. And there
are millions like me: intelligent, hard working, contributing human beings who
have grown weary of corrupt media and specifically, media’s ongoing lies and brutality
against Michael Jackson.

Attorney Tom Mesereau is another advocate for Michael
Jackson. Mesereau personally knew Michael and successfully defended him against
false, heinous allegations brought on in part and nurtured by the media.

Mr. Mesereau is hailed as one of the most intelligent,
successful attorneys in the world. He is also a celebrated civil rights
activist.

Learn more: http://www.trialcounsel.org/newsletter/Mesereau%20Bio.pdf

Get your facts straight, Mr. Hall.

There was once a time when “honest” and
“journalism” meant the same thing, because the pursuit of truth was
at the heart of ethical journalistic endeavor.

“Yellow Journalism”, of course, is the exception. It has a very real past and is only too evident in our current state of media anarchy. That we must now discern between “honest journalism” and “dishonest journalism” is both a cause and symptom of our social decay.

“freakishly successful pop music career is the cultish freak-show fan base”

You obviously know little about the Michael Jackson fan base which is incredibly huge and spread around the world. Your article is juvenile and petty. Michael Jackson was the most award winning artist in history with many of those awards coming from his peers. He sold 750 million records, his adult solo albums are among the best selling albums worldwide including #1, #10, #16, #68, and #69 in the world. 13 million people attended his solo concerts and he still holds the attendance and gross earnings records for those concerts. That career was built with hard work and dedication for 45 of his 50 years. Why don’t you try talking to people who actually worked with him like Bruce Swedien, Grammy winning sound engineer for his adult solo albums. Try talking to Akon, Will.i.am, Teddy Riley, Rodney Jerkins, Lenny Kravits, Santana who not only worked with him but loved him and are huge fans. Yup, we are all a bunch of freaks.

A young college friend of mine majoring in History and who is an avid Michael Jackson supporter, recently said that if she wrote papers like most “reporters” write articles about Michael Jackson, she would be expelled from college. Her reasons were very simple: 1. Lack of citing sources, 2: Grossly opinionated and biased even slanderous, 3. Lacking in basic research technique, 4. And, at times, blatant cut and paste.

Journalism is dead.

If I was your mother I would feel compelled to apologize to the world for giving birth to a spineless, brainless creature like you. Bleah!

To be fair, this site never said it was teeming with journalists. JEERNALISTS, yes.  Journalists, no.  This is really just a gossip site like Gawker or TMZ–neither of which I visit and won’t visit this one, either, anymore.  Ignore it and, if we’re lucky, it might go away.

What is freakish Mr. Hall is that people like you can become journalists.

Yes he accomplished alot. All those kids were there to help him release it too.

Love the comment from a pedo-apologist.

Tabloid junkie.

Hate monger.

Michael Jackson was not a pedophile. Michael Jackson was not a child molester. And unless you know something a conservative Santa Barbara jury and the FBI don’t know, STFU!

Cultish freak-shoe fan base? Hall, good greif pal, stick to your day job! This writing stuff is NOT your cup of tea! What is up with the freak comments and reference to a cult anyway! Well excuse me Mr. Little Man, You are way off on the first sentence. I don’t recall Michael Jackson ever being “freakish” you picked that up from the tabloids! And since when is classifying all Jackson fans as being freaks from a cult? Dude, I’m a working, married woman with kids, I don’t have time to be part of a cult.

Cultish freak-shoe fan base? Hall, good greif pal, stick to your day job! This writing stuff is NOT your cup of tea! What is up with the freak comments and reference to a cult anyway! Well excuse me Mr. Little Man, You are way off on the first sentence. I don’t recall Michael Jackson ever being “freakish” you picked that up from the tabloids! And since when is classifying all Jackson fans as being freaks from a cult? Dude, I’m a working, married woman with kids, I don’t have time to be part of a cult.

Cultish freak-show fan base? Hall, good greif pal, stick to your day job! This writing stuff is NOT your cup of tea! What is up with the freak comments and reference to a cult anyway! Well excuse me Mr. Little Man, You are way off on the first sentence. I don’t recall Michael Jackson ever being “freakish” you picked that up from the tabloids! And since when is classifying all Jackson fans as being freaks from a cult? Dude, I’m a working, married woman with kids, I don’t have

Cultish freak-show fan base? Hall, good greif pal, stick to your day job! This writing stuff is NOT your cup of tea! What is up with the freak comments and reference to a cult anyway! Well excuse me Mr. Little Man, You are way off on the first sentence. I don’t recall Michael Jackson ever being “freakish” you picked that up from the tabloids! And since when is classifying all Jackson fans as being freaks from a cult? Dude, I’m a working, married woman with kids, I don’t have

Paul, you can entertain yourself all day long and twice on Sunday with lies the tabloids told you, but that doesn’t make it true.

So now that Michael Jackson is gone, it’s the fans’ turn to be bashed?
I’m sorry the only way to boost your ratings is the motto “where it bleeds, it leads”. If nothing else, this is not journalism. No ethics, no fact-checking, no respect or responsibility.

Must disagree with this reporter on two fronts: 

One, the large proportion of serious profanity always seems directed by people who hate Michael Jackson, not from those who love him. Although it does seem that the ones who want to say something good about the man do have to fall back on some dramatic act or language to even get noticed, because the negative tabloid reporting and the hater invective always gets much more attention! That’s what gets you statistics to justify your existence, Mr. Hall, eh? Just a big amusing game to get ratings and a paycheck. No matter that careers can be injured. No matter now especially now that the subject is dead.

And some of the ones who hate Jackson, such as several posters here, probably had to dig out their dictionaries a few years back to find out what names to call him that would disguise the real bases for their hatred, such as envy, jealousy and perhaps racial prejudice. Sadly, any celebrity seems to bring these creatures out in droves. How convenient that the tabloid press always provides other names they can use.

Two: I don’t think the descriptors “cult” or “freaky” have anything to say about the number of people around the world who still admire and support this talented and generous soul, there are millions – they cover the whole spectrum of society but seem to largely be well-spoken, intelligent, thoughtful and responsible. Even erudite.  Do they all see the world in exactly the same way? No. If a cult, would they all drink poison to die upon demand? Heck no. Do they worship Jackson as a saint or deity? I don’t see that. Matter of fact, they don’t even gather at a designated building on Sundays, take out a special book or invoke his name.  There are no rules of behavior or covenants of action to be seen. But as thinking and feeling human beings, they may well be motivated by mere humanity to speak out against a perceived injustice. If that requires an expletive or two for emphasis, I’m not surprised. We cannot be silent about things that matter.

LibelFreeZone…..your comment is thoughtful, articulate and correct!  

Colby Hall, I hope that if you have children you at least recognize, should it occur, a tendency on their part, to bully or ridicule another student unjustly.  Judging from this extremely poor article, you might need to get up to speed on what bullying consists of.  You just gave us a prime example.  You seem to have an affinity for the words freak, freakish, cult, and strange.  How about adding gentle, kind, compassionate and humanitarian to your vocabulary?  Believe me, if you do some research into Michael Jackson’s life, you will get countless opportunities to write about and use these words profusely when speaking about him.Bob, PaulG85…take a moment and look in the mirror.   Ask yourself this question: “If my life was being recorded would I actually feel I have the right to accuse anyone of anything?”  If you are as clean as new-driven snow, then step up and share.  We could use a good hero.  Otherwise go crawl back into your dark, dank holes and SHUT UP!

there is no journalism anymore, only foaming-at-the-mouth, twisted ejections from such as the swill-spewer who wrote this drivel he pulled out of whatever hallucination he was having at the time. Very, VERY little ever gets published about Michael Jackson that has any honest, substantiated research behind it or any fact or truth to it at all – almost everything is whatever the writer finds in the decay he/she discovers in their own rancid and minute imaginations. Bottom feeding will do that to a mind, and this piece of Sh*t is in no way an exception to the phenomenon.

Oh and the psychotically relentless slandering and bullying of Michael Jackson has EVERYTHING to do with racism. As soon as he blew the good old white boys, elvis, the beatles etc, to kingdom come with his massive global successes, his unprecedented humanitarianism that SHAMED those who came before and after him, and acquired the adoration of multi-millions of women of every race, colour and creed, the knives came out, and the false accusations the FBI themselves proved were false after 17 years of investigation, the relentless extortions and media bullying began. There is no way a black Prince of Peace can show up on this planet and not be viciously crucified one way or another. History bears indelible witness to this. Yes I am white.

The ‘naughty’ word shown is insignificant to the real crime committed here and
throughout media in its lazy, shallow, and incompetent coverage-on-the-cheap of
the DR. CONRAD MURRAY TRIAL. From the beginning, media has worked to redefine
the court case into the Michael Jackson Trial through its choice of headlines
(Jackson Doctor Trial) and its focus on the life of the deceased rather than
the actions of the defendant.

DR. CONRAD MURRAY IS THE DEFENDANT in this trial, and HE is being called to account
for his actions as physician to Jackson at the time of death. Murray’s life and
liberty are at stake, not those of Michael Jackson. Yet, tabloid mental midgets
use the standard blue smoke and mirrors to deliberately refocus attention on
fan behavior (whatever it may be), lurid photographs of the deceased, and
speculative interviews with or by so-called ‘experts, family friends, and
insiders’ whose motives are questionable at best and obvious at worst. They
distract attention from the courtroom proceedings where Dr. Murray’s fate will
be decided.

Instead of providing solid, factual information, these tantalizing and irrelevant
detours from the real trial are the shiny ring by which the public is led by
the nose to advertisers.

The Media has devolved into The Beast and it behaves accordingly. It marks its
territory with its own waste. It leaves a smell wherever it passes. It devours
everything in its path. It never cleans up after itself.

Pardon me, but  as an intelligent, articulate and open-minded individual I am affronted by the label “freak” not just for myself but for Michael Jackson.  The only thing freakish about Jackson is the way he has been treated by the media over the years.  The amount of ridicule and malicious bullying this man had to endure from the tabloid press is as bizarre and unprecedented as it gets.   Now that Jackson has gone,  the trend is to  resort to real play-yard tactics and belittle his fans.  No freak would command such loyalty and dedication from so many REAL people – be they German, American, Japanese, British, Australasian, or whatever…it really doesn’t matter. Millions (and that’s not an overstatement) of people worldwide of every race, creed and persuasion admire and respect Jackson for the genius of his musicality and the generosity of his spirit – many are continuing his charitable works quietly in his name – but you won’t be seeing that on your TV screens of course – and that hardly constitutes a cult

It’s dangerous to put labels on and under-estimate people that you don’t even know.

There is always one infant trying to get the attention of the grown-ups when they are talking

Mr. Hall, most fans of Michael Jackson are intelligent, articulate people with careers, families, homes and lives of their own. What they all share in common is a respect and admiration for the greatest talent of our time. Michael Jackson was probably the most gifted creative mind of our time, and he was a great humanitarian. His success and career were certainly not ‘freakish”. His fan base is not a cult. While there are fans at the courthouse who are very extreme and overzealous, they do not represent the majority of Michael’s supporters. While most of us would not dress up like Michael and spend time outside the courhouse, we do all have one thing in common: we share a love and respect for a man who gave of himself throughout his life by sharing his creative talent, his time, and his resources to help make the world a better place. He did all of this while being mocked and attacked by a media who wanted nothing more than to trvialize him. 

There are many of us, probably more of us than you think, who are reasonable, rational, adult people who admire Mr. Jackson for his musical talent and generosity toward less fortunate people, than there are “loonies” who behave in cultish-fashion.  And we reasonable people are also the ones who would simply like to see that Mr. Jackson is given the benefit of the doubt, just as you would like to be given, were you in the same situation as he was (and still is even after his death).  Thank you.

How interesting….PaulG85, you must’ve been out of the country during Mr. Jackson’s 2005 trial, because you didn’t testify that you actually personally witnessed something that would’ve pre-empted 10 acquittals!  All those kids that you refer to…did you see it happen to them?  Did they tell you directly that they were molested by Mr. Jackson?  Did you not hear the trial?  Please take some time to read the transcripts so that you will know what “all those kids” actually testified.  If you still feel that he was guilty, then I feel sorry for you.  Get some professional help, please.

Mikage Souji: You go girl!