Captain EO: A child molester in Disneyland?

A little over an hour ago, Captain EO returned to Disneyland.

The 17-minute science fiction musical starring Michael Jackson opened for a "limited engagement" at the Tomorrowland Theatre at 10 a.m., replacing Honey I Shrunk the Audience, which closed Jan. 3.


Captain EO was launched at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland in 1986, when Jacko was calling himself "The King of Pop," and had the power to rope in Francis Ford Coppola as director and executive producer George Lucas-- a few years before he became better known as a freakish oddity and alleged child molester.

The $30 million 3-D film closed in 1997, but after Jacko's death last summer and the subsequent wiping clean of his pedophiliac slate, the Disney people decided to listen to the fans asking for its return, dust off the film canisters and rake in some more dough.

A Disney spokesman says the film will run "as long as it remains popular."

Orianthi moves up

On the last day of 2009, we picked "According To You" by Orianthi Panagaris, the Aussie blonde guitarist from Jacko's last rehearsals as a surefire hit for the new year. Coming up on three weeks since our prediction and after six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, the song continues its steady progression, moving 10 spots, from #36 to #26. She's no Ke$ha or GaGa, but amid the Autoned dance numbers filing most of the charts, her little piece of corporate Vai rock isn't doing too badly. We'll keep you posted on her progress.

Orianthi: Pick hit for 2010

We heard this song on KISS-FM on the radio last night and figure it will be a big hit in 2010. It's "According To You" by Orianthi Panagaris, the blonde girl who was supposed to be the guitarist for Michael Jackson's comeback concerts, the one who was featured in that shaky "last rehearsal" clip they issued right after he died.

Good hook, garbagey Steve Vai guitar, Hoku-Lavigney sounding, it jumped out of the dashboard and somebody's got to clean up in Jacko 's wake. In its fourth week on the Billboard Hot 100, it's moved up to #36. We'll see.

The Kats' out of the bag about Steve Friess' Las Vegas "tribute" to Michael Jackson

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Rolling out act after self-congratulatory act while a flurry of tweets about its wonderfulness was unleashed by its producer and his friends, beauty queen-turned televisioon entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs and Norm Clarke of The Las Vegas Review-Journal, the “Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death Was The Best Thing That Could Ever Have Happened To Michael Jackson’s Music Show" went off as scheduled at the Palms resort in Las Vegas yesterday-- but not without some serious questions aimed at its producer and promoter, Las Vegas blogger, New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author and comp queen Steve Friess.

The questions came from Tabloid Baby.

Friess gave his answers to the Las Vegas Sun.

One thing the Danny Gans case has made clear is that journalists working in Las Vegas read Tabloid Baby, and while some curse us for calling them out on their cowardly refusal to investigate the big questions while hyping some questionable enterprises, they do take our criticism to heart-- and when they can slip it past their editors, take up our challenge.


In this case it was John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Sun who, in a promotional piece on the Jackson "tribute," cornered Friess about his obvious conflict of interest, if not the bizarre notion of his producing a "tribute" that he insisted was not a tribute to Jacko the man, even though the tribute took place on Jacko's birthday, with Jacko's father as a guest.

Kats gets Friess to answer the questions we have asked in this space, and in many unanswered emails to Friess, including:

Was Joe Jackson paid to attend the tribute?

How much does he plan to raise in total?

How much money will go to ""production costs" and expenses?

Either Katsilometes asked the questions or Friess used the friendly reporter to give his answers, unchallenged.

Writes Kats:

"Friess finds himself performing something of a moonwalk between the Jackson death investigation and the Palms benefit. His role in covering the Vegas angle of the Jackson story has coincided with his involvement in organizing a charity show that is essentially authorized by the Jackson family. Friess, who writes regularly for Las Vegas Weekly (a Greenspun Media Group publication) among his freelance gigs, allows that it has been an interesting summer ever since the details of Jackson’s death spilled out to include Las Vegas.

“'There’s no doubt it’s weird for me,” Friess said today. 'When this was conceived, it was just a couple of days after his death. Nobody believed it would be a homicide at that point, that it would be anything this controversial connected to Las Vegas... Journalists don’t have to divorce themselves from their communities.' (Friess plans to write of his shifting between journalist and benefit producer in next week’s L.V. Weekly.)

"Friess finds himself performing a moonwalk
between the Jackson death investigation
and the Palms benefit. His role in covering
the Vegas angle of the Jackson story
has coincided with his involvement in
organizing a charity show that is essentially
authorized by the Jackson family."
--Las Vegas Sun

"Soon after Jackson’s death, Friess was approached by Bergen, a friend who is a lifelong Jackson fan, to assist in organizing the benefit show. Bergen has invoked an audio clip of himself at age 4 singing 'Man in the Mirror' during his performances at the Liberace Museum and has written a piece for the Sun relating Jackson’s influence on his career. It was Bergen who first thought to turn Jackson’s untimely death into a means of raising money for local arts programs, and both organizers have said that the show is to honor the creative work, not the mercurial and ultimately tragic lifestyle, of Jackson.

"At this writing, about $90,000 in advance ticket sales have been raised, Friess said. The goal is $100,000... Friess says that all money taken in after production costs will be donated to the Public Education Foundation to fill such needs as instruments, maintenance of instruments, sheet music, supplies and specialized tutoring (the books will be opened to anyone who wants to review how the money was allotted, he said, adding that the Jacksons did not ask for fees to appear at the show or dedication ceremony)."

If Steve Friess is indeed writing another apologia for his actions in the Las Vegas Weekly, we hope it is as amusing and mind-boggling as his "A Fine Restraint" excuse for not investigating the death of local superstar Danny Gans.

Meanwhile, we should point out that Michael Jackson's death was suspicious from the start, his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray of Las Vegas, was sought for questioning from day one, after he disappeared from the emergency room hours after Jacko's death, and Friess, who wrote in the Weekly's July 2nd issue that "Michael Jackson’s untimely death was the best thing that could ever have happened to Michael Jackson’s music," was covering the Las Vegas investigation of Murray weeks after he began producing the birthday part for the man whose "baggage" he claimed "imprisoned and stigmatized" his "product."

Propofol was Michael Jackson's "milk"

Court records unsealed this week add an intriguing clue to the mystery of why Michael Jackson used propofol, the powerful anesthetic that the coroner says killed him.

We reported yesterday on a report in the May 2007 issue of Anesthesiology News that many revealed many propofol addicts were not only insomniacs like Jacko, but victims of childhood sex abuse, looking to block out the painful memories. The report raised the questiom of whether Michael Jackson turned to propofol to escape memories of his own molestation and abuse.

According to court records, Dr. Conrad Murray, who may be charged for giving Jacko his lethal dose, says he feared the star was addicted to the stuff. Jacko, he told police, spent his final hours pleading to be shot up with propofol.

Murray said that Jackson referred to propofol as "milk."

Did Michael Jackson take propofol to block out memories of childhood sexual abuse?

Did Michael Jackson use the drug propofol to block out memories of being sexually abused as a child? A recent study of propofol addicts indicates the possibility is highly likely-- and could explain why Jacko chose to combat insomnia with a hazardous, stupefying anesthetic-- and perhaps explain a few other things about his life, as well.

We'd never heard of the propofol before Jacko's death case (if we did, there was never a reason for it to register in importance), and like most people were pretty shocked at reports that canisters of a drug that’s usually limited to surgical theatres had been trucked into Jacko’s bedroom so his doctor could shoot him up and knock him out.

What we didn’t suspect-- and what we haven’t seen reported in the weeks since Jacko’s death— is a study that shows a great number of propofol addicts are not only insomniacs—but victims of sexual abuse (coincidentally, one expert estimates that forty percent of sexual abusers were sexually abused as children).

Proopofol, says one doctor, “blocks out the world. One of the hallmark symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder is hyperarousal. Folks with PTSD want to block that out.”

Today’s news that the LA County Coroner is ready to call Jackons’s death by propofol an act of homicide led us back to an article handed to us by a top Tabloid Baby pal a few weeks ago.

"Propofol Abuse Growing Problem for Anesthesiologists," from the May 2007 issue of Anesthesiology News, says propofol is among the most widely-used anesthetic agents in both hospitals and doctors’ offices (“It’s everywhere,” says one doctor). It’s also the drug of choice among doctors and anesthesiologists looking for a quick high.

Real quick.


“Because propofol is such a short-acting substance, heavy abusers must inject it frequently to stay high— as many as 50 to 100 times during a using session is not unheard of…”

Yet, “only a few cc’s more than what’s required to put a person to sleep can trigger fatal respiratory arrest. That threat is an insufficient deterrent for determined users; 40% of residents who reportedly abused the anesthetic died from the high—the peril of propofol’s exquisitely narrow therapeutic window.”

The article contains lots of medical journal statistics on the number of doctors and medical workers who use propofol—and die from it. But Jacko watchers will be most interested in the section at the end:

“'Propofol is a drug that in a sense doesn’t get you high,' said Omar S. Manejwala, MD, associate medical director at the William J. Farley Center at Williamsburg Place, an addiction treatment clinic in Virginia that, like Talbott, also focuses on physicians. 'It blocks out the world.'

"In his experience, Dr. Manejwala said, nearly every propofol addict started injecting to overcome persistent insomnia. That aspect of the medication fits neatly with the link both Drs. Manejwala and Earley have observed between propofol abuse and a history of trauma. 'One of the hallmark symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] is hyperarousal. Folks with PTSD want to block that out,' Dr. Manejwala said.

"What’s puzzling, experts said, is the strength of the connection. 'I don’t know of any other drug where the perceived incidence of trauma, particularly of sexual trauma [in abusers], is so high,' Dr. Manejwala said. 'It’s really quite remarkable.'"

According to court records, Dr. Conrad Murray administered 25 milligrams of propofol at 10:40 a.m. on the day Jacko died, after Jackson repeatedly demanded the drug.

La Toya Jackson gives blessing to Steve Friess' "Michael Jackson’s untimely death was the best thing that could ever have happened to his music" show

According to Alicia Jacobs...

More on the "tribute" here, here and here...

"I’m just going to come right out and say it:
Michael Jackson’s untimely death
was the best thing that could ever
have happened to Michael Jackson’s music."
--Steve Friess, July 2nd, Las Vegas Weekly

Las Vegas celebrates a package deal

The Las Vegas celebration of Michael Jackson's 5ist birthday next month ("The Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death Was The Best Thing That Could Ever Have Happened To Michael Jackson's Music Show," at $25 to $504 a ticket, is only the latest intriguing offshoot of the local media's coverup of the life and overdose death of Strip headliner Danny Gans. A Twitter post from the show's producer and promoter adds a new twist. New York Times stringer, Gay Vegas author and comp queen Steve Friess celebrated Michael Jackson's death in print, yet raced to be the first to exploit Jacko's legacy with a benefit for public school music programs, all the whole condemning "Jackson the man." Now the journalist is offering package deals at the Palms.

Developing...

(Meanwhile spin through our archives for a deeper view of a fascinating desert saga...)

Michael Jackson's missing nose makes news one month after we revealed that its tip was absent from Jacko death photo

Rolling Stone magazine is getting lots of play today for a story that was broken by Tabloid Baby within hours of Michael Jackson's death:

Michael Jackson died without his nose.

We alone among the world's journalist noticed and reported that the photo showing Jackson's lifeless corpse on the way into the UCLA Medical Center revealed that the tip of Jackson's cosmetic surgery-damaged schnozzola was missing:

"A study of the photo reveals one detail that's yet to be commented on: Michael Jackson is missing the tip of his nose.

"With his many plastic surgeries, Jacko did much damage to the cartilege in his nose and was rumoured to use putty or a prosthetic to replace the destroyed end...

"It appears that the tip was lost as paramedics worked valiantly to get his heart started, perhaps in a kiss of life."


In a detailed report of Jacko's final days and the hours after his demise, Rolling Stone reports that further attempts to pump some life back into the star had rubbed away the rest of the false appendage, revealing the horrific results of one nose job too many. The once-essential mag quotes a witness who claims to have seen Jacko's corpse on an autopsy table said there was simply a small hole where the singer's nose should have been:

"The prosthesis he normally attached to his damaged nose was missing, revealing bits of cartilage surrounding a small dark hole."

The Daily Mail reports the story today, adding confirmation from a former Jacko housekeeper who adds:

"In his closet he had a jar of fake noses and stage glue, which he told me he used for disguises. But some were similar to his real nose, just without the hole."

Most of the mainstream and tabloid Internet media have attributed the story to the Daily Mail. Only the most perceptive and cutting edge tabloid news sites, like Hollywood's Rumor Rat and the UK's Anorak, cited out story-- on Day One.

A good excuse to follow us on Twitter and receive Tabloid Baby updates. We notice things that others do not. That's what we do.

Jacko's secret son? Not bloody likely

London's Daily Mail has the best and most-quoted celebrity tabloid page of all the mainstream newspapers, but were still trying to figure out the circuitous, misleading story they're hyping this morning about Michael Jackson's "secret son." Twenty-five year-old Omer Bhatti sat with the Jackson family at the Staples Center Memorial and wore the sunglasses and black suit combo favoured by Jacko's brothers. The Daily Mail writes that he "is believed to have asked for a DNA test to prove once and for all if he is the singer's love child," fathered on a one-night stand in Norway in 1984. The paper even touts the young man's physical resemblance to Jacko's (white) surrogate son, Blanket (let us not forget that Jacko was a black man).


But read a little deeper and see that Omer was more likely one of Jacko's little circle-jerk buddies, sold to the superstar by his parents, to whom Jacko gave jobs and gifts.

Omer, it turns out, was one of those mini-Michael Jackson impersonators from modest circumstances in another part of the world who was thrust upon the so-called King of Pop by his parents during his wildest pajama party days. Jacko reportedly "met" the child in Tunisia in 1996. was "impressed" by the pretty boy's aping of his dance moves and soon had the kid and his folks moved from Oslo to his Neverland lair.

Omer's mother Pia was hired as a nanny for Jacko's surrogate son and Omer's father Riz got a job as a chauffeur.

Parents cared for, son slept with: it was a scenario played out more than once in Jacko's fantasy world. Jacko's secret son? Not bloody likely.

Donny Osmond's son finds another bond between Danny Gans & Michael Jackson

Las Vegas may have forgotten Danny Gans, and its journalists may have shied away from the striking, disturbing parallels between his overdose death and that of Michael Jackson-- but Salt Lake City, Utah remembers.

Don Osmond, PR man, bobsledder and blogger, is a son of show business legend Donny Osmond, whose show with his sister Marie at the Flamingo Hilton on the Vegas strip was produced by Danny Gans (and the type of anti-sin family-friendly shows that jibed well with his Born Again Christian image and following). Donny and his brothers saw their squeaky clean act soar in the the Seventies as a "White Jackson 5." In his weekly column in the Mormon Times, Don the son acknowledges that the "untimely deaths... hit my family pretty hard during the past couple months."

And he writes:

"Interestingly, when our time is up, it's the kind and simple things we are remembered by.

"During Danny Gans' memorial service, personal stories were shared of how he always looked for ways to give back to a community that gave him so much.

"One such story described his daily trip to the theater. He would travel the same route every day, and would regularly visit with a man who had been left homeless.

"Often, Danny would take a couple minutes to stop and chat. During these visits, it became apparent to him that this man had difficulties walking. Danny decided to purchase a wheelchair the following day, and give it to him.

"No one ever heard that story until Danny's memorial service. Why? Because those stories don't sell magazines and newspapers. Those stories are not what the media thinks the public wants to hear.

"...Now I'm not here to vindicate or condemn a celebrity for the way the media portrayed them. And, thankfully, I'm not the judge of salvation -- I leave that job for God.

"However, I don't think any of us realize the private lives of a celebrity until we hear a young girl say, as Paris Jackson said of her father, 'Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine, and I just want to say I love him so much'..."

Read Don Osmond's entire column here. Amid allegations of doctor shopping and questions about what other drugs Danny Gans had been supplied with, it is yet another compelling argument for the Las Vegas news media to do its job and find justice for him.

Danny Gans and doctor shopping: Gossip columnist blows the lid off Las Vegas news media's cone of silence

How widespread has the practice
of doctor-shopping become in Las Vegas?
Will the investigation into
Jackson's prescription drug abuse
lead back to the Las Vegas medical community,
given Jackson spent a good deal
of time here in recent years?
Will the intense scrutiny uncover more leads
in Danny Gans' drug-related death?

--Norm Clarke, Las Vegas Review Journal

Norm Clarke of The Las Vegas Review-Journal has brought up the subject of "doctor shopping" in the Danny Gans death case. The gossip columnist and compulsive Twitterer buries the reference in story about Michael Jackson, but his column reveals once again that Las Vegas journalists are covering up a huge story bubbling under the drug overdose ten weeks ago of the biggest star on the Strip and the most unique entertainer in the country.

Norm's column, in which he interviews an anonymous doctor who claims Jackson's handlers once tried to intimidate him into prescribing painkillers under someone else's name," directly connects Jackson's apparent overdose death to Gans'.

Norm also extends the accusation of "doctor shopping" (requesting care from multiple physicians, often simultaneously, without making efforts to coordinate care, usually due to a patient's addiction to prescription drugs) in Las Vegas to at least one "high profile casino executive."


The column is all the more extraordinary for several reasons:

* The exact cause of Jackson's death won't be known for weeks, until toxicology reports are completed;

* The Las Vegas news media had refused to speculate about or investigate Gans' untimely death, claiming they could do nothing until toxcicology reports were completed;

* The talk of the town in Vegas was and is Gans' alleged use of steroids and prescription drugs;

* No one in the mainstream Las Vegas news media opened the floodgates of revelations about Gans once it was revealed that the supposedly Born Again Christian former athlete had died from a dose of hydromorphone, otherwise known as Dilaudid or "drug store heroin."

Leave it to the gossip columnist.

Just as his jaunty eyepatch is key to his image, Norm's candid reporting is a hallmark of his work. As a gossip columnist, he is known to plant unconfirmed items from publicists-- or, in the Danny Gans case, from Gans' manager and close female friend who were on a campaign to mislead the public about the musical impressionist's lifestyle-- but his job also frees him to write whatever he wants to fill the space (after the coroner's report on Gans was released, he was the only one to copy our report that Gans was now linked to Vegas legend Elvis Presley though Dilaudud).

This morning he writes about a doctor who claims he was called to Jackson's suite at the Mirage Hotel & Casino in 2003 (owned at the time by Steve Wynn, and the home of Danny Gans' show ):

"The doctor's experience with Jackson raises several questions: How widespread has the practice of doctor-shopping become in Las Vegas? Will the investigation into Jackson's prescription drug abuse lead back to the Las Vegas medical community, given Jackson spent a good deal of time here in recent years? Will the intense scrutiny uncover more leads in Danny Gans' drug-related death?

"'Doctor-shopping 'has become very common,' he said.

"The meeting with Jackson wasn't the first time the physician felt pressured to accommodate a VIP.

"He treated a high profile casino executive who wanted sleeping pills. A week later, the executive wanted a refill and a week after that he requested another refill 'and I said no -- and my services are no longer required.'

"The sad thing, he said, is that someone else filled the void.

"'It's Elvis Presley all over again.'

Though we've criticized Norm for the recent Gans factoids he spread, the joy with which he covers his beat and his excitement over getting a scoop-- see his constant, compulsive Twitter posts-- sets him apart from the corrupt editors and scaredy-cat reporters who are content to keep their heads down so they don't join the ranks of the laid-off.

The speculation in Las Vegas-- and knowledge among many reporters and editors-- is that Danny Gans got his prescription drugs from more than one doctor, as well as from members of his entourage.

Norm's single sentence in the nineteenth paragraph of a gossip column, could be the spark that sets off the explosive coverage that will blow this lid off off a scandal that goes far beyond the hypocrisy of Danny Gans.

The realization of what slipped through on the weekend will surely cause editor Tom Mitchell to tear off his three-beaver Resistol, toss it on the floor and jump up and down on it, yelling, "Dag nab it! Dad burn it!"

Norm's column could also convince a reporter to interview a doctor or musician under the cover of anonymity.

It could even lead to some real independent journalism in a city where journalism isn't merely dying, but slowly killing itself with painkillers.

Jacko memorial postscript: Who the hell was this guy?

At first glance, the young man who walked onstage at the Staples Center to lead off the singing of We Are The World appeared to be the extraterrestrial alien visitor Michael Jackson attempted to turn himself into. With his doe eyes, deer-in-the-headlights expression and reptile skin jacket, he could have come from the Black Lagoon.

Was he one of Jacko's backing singers? This brother from another planet certainly made an impression.

Danny Gans' manager spreads Jacksons rumour with help of New York Times stringer and death coverup blogger

Another connection between overdose victims Michael Jackson and Danny Gans is being floated this evening in the form of unsubstantiated gossip from Gans' former manager Chip Lightman on the Las Vegas blog of New York Times freelancer and comp queen Steve Friess:

"Chip Lightman, the late Danny Gans' manager, informed me today that he's been contacted by an envoy for Michael Jackson's surviving brothers about the prospect of a permanent Jackson Brothers show in the vacant Encore showroom at Wynn Las Vegas."

Is Chip Lightman to be believed?

In the days following Gans' untimely death on May 1st, Lightman and Gans' close personal friend, beauty queen turned TV entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs clouded the truth about Gans' drug use and worked overtime to mythologize him as a heroic, religious figure with stories that were either shrugged off as exaggeration or retracted. Meanwhile, Friess began a smear and harassment campaign aimed at stopping TabloidBaby.com from investigating or reporting on the mysterious circumstances of Gans death.

It was later revealed that Jacobs works for Friess' unofficial same-sex marriage partner at the local NBC affiliate and was the "celebrity guest" at their nonbinding gay wedding at the Palms. (The group's curiously close and ethically questionable relationship was explored here in a post subtitled The Danny Gans daisy chain.)

Oddly, while floating Lightman's latest Barnumesque blather without any confirmation, Friess (above left) dismisses it in the same posting:

"Lightman noted that the call was extremely preliminary and that it's unclear exactly what the Jacksons have in mind... Lightman also noted that there's no telling how Wynn management might react, but I suspect the answer would be a 'HELL NO.'"

While it's understandable that Lightman would be looking to be involved with the act that ultimately takes over Gans' spot at the Encore Theatre, and should be given a pass for trying to float an idea in front of his boss, Steve Wynn, Friess' role in spreading the rumour brings to mind his involvement in spreading false rumours about Gans' death in order throw journalistic investigators off the scent of painkillers and steroids.

Let's see how long it takes this one to make The New York Times.

Michael Jackson at The Grammy Museum

While plans were announced for Michael Jackson's memorial service at the Staples Center, a few doors down at the Grammy Museum, a Jacko exhibit that had recently closed is back and amazing fans when they hear each jacket weighed fifteen pounds.


Outside the Staples Center:


And the corner of his family's street in Encino:

Mainstream media begins to realize TMZ's Jacko death scoop was not what it seemed

It's taken them a few days to catch up, but the established mainstream media is beginning to clear the stardust out of their eyes and realize there was something fishy about corporate, porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com scooping the world on the death of Michael Jackson.


We laid out the evidence on Friday that under the leadership of shaved bronzed midget frontman Harvey Levin, TMZ took the same information that everyone else had and gambled that it spelled out that Jacko was dead-- that they ran the "Michael Jackson is dead" story before getting official confirmation, before knowing for sure. The upside? Well, look at how the mainstream media, from Brian Stelter in the New York Times to beaten beat writers in the Los Angeles Times, have responded with awestruck wonder at the supposed technological and journalistic brilliance of the jealous, corrupt mutts at TMZ for going with the story a good forty minutes before anyone else (see Dan Rather at Parkland Hospital). The downside? There's not much of a downside. There was enough confusion in which smarmy sleazy Harvey could have slimed his way out of it, and gotten the attention just the same (see The Hitler Diaries).


This afternoon, the Los Angeles Times website runs -- and Drudge headlines as a "whine"-- a "comment" piece entitled, "How would we have reacted if TMZ had been wrong about Michael Jackson's death?"

Alexandra Le Tellier writes:

"TMZ would become the first outlet to announce the singer’s death. What came next was a surprise. Before the RIPs and the 'he touched us all' jokes, many users began posting jabs aimed at CNN -- more specifically, its irrelevance as a news source...

"Has technology’s ability to deliver information at such a rapid pace corrupted us? ...Have our standards for accountability dissolved?

"...And who was TMZ’s source anyway? The site’s managing editor, Harvey Levin, said he and his staff made hundreds of calls, but he didn't divulge whom they spoke to, which begs the question of whether they confirmed the news with a reliable, accountable source -- as is required by the Los Angeles Times -- or if they spoke to someone who was violating patient confidentiality.

"When 19 employees at this same hospital, UCLA Medical Center, were busted in 2008 for snooping through Britney Spears’ confidential medical records, it was hard not to wonder why they’d have risked their jobs. Were they looking for a story to sell just as their colleague, Lawanda Jackson, had done? She was indicted in 2008 for selling information about Farrah Fawcett and accessing hundreds of other files. If that’s the case here, are we seriously going to trust people who’re willing to break the law for some fast cash?

“'A curious thing is at play here,' (NY Times syndicate ethics columnist Jeffrey) Seglin continues. 'Few people expect TMZ or Drudge or the National Enquirer to get things right or to report on issues of substance. When they do, at least so far, it’s a bit of an anomaly. So the consequences for getting it wrong among such sites do not seem terribly high. If CNN, Fox … got such things wrong, the consequences would likely be higher...'

"Would TMZ take the same approach to a political figure, which in turn could pose a threat to national security? Let’s hope we never find out."

Though the article is deep in the Times' little-read Blog section and its writer is under the impression that TMZ got a legitimate scoop through illegal, paid sources, it's significant for a few reasons. The writer quotes an ethicist from the national competitor in New York, whose kid TV writer led the TMZ cheerleading over the weekend-- a sign that after their initial starry-eyed reaction to being beaten on the story, the old world news media is gathering the forces to get back at the sleazy TV lawyer who broke the rules. Drudge may call it a "whine", but obviously unhappy being lumped in with TMZ, he posted the link on his influential page, which means talk radio producers and other news organizations too lazy to come up with their own ideas will pick up the TMZ story.


And even though the TMZ gamble paid off in the end, the Jackson death stunt does not bode well for TMZ's plans to encroach further into Washington, D.C. politics and matters of national importance. Its corporate overlords Time Warner and AOL may have found it cute when Harvey and his boys began comparing the pectoral muscles of congressmen or playing their curbside ambush games in Georgetown, but they wouldn't be happy at all if their bastard child jumped the gun on an assassination and caused panic and riots in the streets.

Developing...

Media's coverage of Michael Jackson's death exposes the failures and corruption of the Las Vegas news media in covering the death of Danny Gans

“In New York and Los Angeles, when a major star
drops dead of unknown causes, there is a repulsive
ritual that takes place. A certain breed of journalist
will begin a vigil outside the deceased’s residence,
will rifle through their trash, will bribe all sorts of people
for all sorts of reasons and will call up anyone and
everyone even questionably related to the person for
even the most unlikely comment.

“In Las Vegas, when left to our own devices,
we do things a little differently.”

--Steve Friess, Las Vegas Weekly

Someone asked us about the parallels between the deaths of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. We're more interested in the parallels between the news media's respeonse to the deaths of Jacko and Danny Gans (who imitated Jacko in his show): the biggest star in the world (consummate showman and Christian), and the biggest star in Las Vegas (consummate showman and Christian).

The actions of public officials and the Fourth Estate in each case reveal a stark contrast in transparency and fulfillment of responsibility:

Michael Jackson, genius performer, dead at 50.
Danny Gans, genius performer, dead at 52.
Michael Jackson, found not breathing at home in his bed
Danny Gans, found not breathing at home in his bed.
Michael Jackson, pulled to the floor for CPR as a 911 dispatcher gives instructions.
Danny Gans, pulled to the floor for CPR as a 911 dispatcher gives instructions.
Prescription drugs are immediately suspected as the cause of Michel Jackson's death.
Prescription drugs are immediately suspected as the cause of Danny Gans's death.
Police say they want to speak to Michael Jackson’s many doctors immediately.
Police do not seek out Danny Gans’ many doctors.
Police impound the car of one of Michael Jackson’s doctors in search of drug evidence.
Police allow Danny Gans’ wife to gather “all of her husband’s medications” for them to examine.
The world media swarms onto the Michael Jackson story.
The Las Vegas media tiptoes around the Danny Gans story.
Michael Jackson’s “secret” dependence on prescription drugs is immediately laid bare by journalists and their editors, who can finally publish what they’ve known for years.
Danny Gans’ “secret” dependence on prescription drugs is immediately covered up by journalists and their editors, who decline to publish what they’ve known for years or to investigate further.
Michael Jackson’s family members, friends, doctors and colleagues say they knew about his drug problems, but were helpless to save him.
Danny Gans’ friends and colleagues lie about him and claim ignorance, and the gullible and cynical local media print and broadcast what they know is not true.
Respected publications like The New York Times and Los Angeles Times go with major front-page splashes on Michael Jackson’s death, with details about his final hours and many sidebars about his secret life and speculation about what killed him.
Publications like the Las Vegas Review-Journal publish major front-page splashes on Danny Gans’ death, but report only the information that was handed to them.
The Michael Jackson 911 tape is released immediately and analyzed by police, journalists and the public.
The Danny Gans 911 tape is kept under wraps.
Journalists investigate the actions of the paramedics who treated Michael Jackson and get immediate answers, erasing any mystery.
Las Vegas journalists go with the official statements, with one (who is a stringer for The New York Times) stating that it is improper to “harass” the paramedics who attended to Danny Gans, adding to more mystery.
Police and the coroner hold a press conference in which journalists ask many obvious questions about Michael Jackson’s habits and cause of death.
Police, the coroner and Danny Gans’ boss Steve Wynn issue terse statements regarding Danny Gans’ death.
Police and the coroner answer all of the questions they can in the case of Michael Jackson.
Local journalists ask no questions at all in the case of Danny Gans.

Newspapers and media cover every aspect of Michael Jackson’s life, art, influence and legacy, filling column inches for days with fascinating detail about the troubled superstar.
Local newspapers and media get reactions from people like Carrot Top and run out of Danny Gans coverage in a day and a half.
Newspapers and media offer forums for fans to vent their grief and confusion over Michael Jackson.
Las Vegas media outlets censor any correspondence criticizing their performance, publishing only letters that demand the Danny Gans details be kept private.
The coroner says it will take four to six weeks for the toxicological report to reveal exactly what killed Michael Jackson, but with all bases covered and all secrets laid out, there will be no shock or mystery when the details come out.
The coroner says it will take as long as six weeks for the toxicological report to reveal exactly what killed Danny Gans, and the local media close their notebooks and walk away, claiming they are helpless to report or publish any of the easily-verifiable information about the superstar until the government official hands them his statement. When the coroner’s report turns out to be a politically-parsed, incomplete, confusing explanation that only deepens the mystery, the local media whine for a day and then drop the story.
In the Michael Jackson case, members of the news media show what they do best, clearing away mystery, cutting through the spin and laying out the unpleasant truth.
In the Danny Gans case, members of the local news media reveal their corruption, adding to the mystery, clouding the truth and holding back what they know to be true.
Fans understand that the great Michael Jackson was only human and love him only more.
Fans wonder if the great Danny Gans they loved was actually a fraud, and their perception of him darkens amid the coverup.
Revealed as myth and man—thanks to the news media-- Michael Jackson’s legacy is burnished.
Transformed from man to mystery—thanks to the local news media-- Danny Gans’ legacy is tarnished.

Yes, in Las Vegas, when left to their own devices, they do things a little differently. But is the public or the subject well-served by their fear to offend? It seems that the responsible and aggressive coverage of the newspack in the Michael Jackson case puts the lie to Steve Friess' excuses and proves there's a big difference between Reporting 101 and bribery. What do you think? And can you think of other contrasts in the case? Add your own!

COMING SOON: Analysis of the Danny Gans 911 tape and investigator’s report... They closed the case after this??