Like the Timex Social Club, I spend a lot of time lamenting the rumors that surround me every day. How do they get started? And where do they get crazy? In Truthmonger, I’ll try to suss out the kernels of truth in the rumors that are taking up airspace in gossip columns, blogs, and our tips inbox.
THE RUMOR: Michael Jackson is alive! OMG, there’s blurry cameraphone video proving it!
TRUTH THRESHOLD: Well I mean… the Chicago Tribune is running with it, right? So it has to be true? Uh…
HOW THIS RUMOR GOT STARTED: Yesterday, some wisenheimer on the Internet named “LosAngels Cot24″ posted this video:
And accompanied it with this breathless text:
This video shows that Michael was still alive after his dead body was transported to the Los Angeles Dept. of Coroner I checked the license plate number and it looks like the King of Pop is jumping out of the same van, his dead body has been in. I got the original video tape from a trustworthy source. I know him for years. And I am sure it´s real and Michael is alive.
In a sane world where people cared about things like “facts” and “biological realities,” crackpot clips like this would be relegated to dusty corners of the Internet. Or the Weekly World News. But since times are really desperate in the media, we’re all linkfarmers and pageview-baiters now. And so, this watercooler-ready clip has received the imprimatur of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles TV station KTLA!
The clip was posted to Live Leak by a user named ‘LosAngeles Cot24’ and then picked up by “The Syndicate,” a division of media giant The Tribune Company. It was then sent out to Tribune properties including the highly respected Chicago Tribune and television station KTLA in Los Angeles, which prominently posted the video on their websites. …
Shawn Wasson, who works for The Tribune, explained, “I scour for the best video of the day,” and has seen other “life after death” videos of Jackson, but thought that this one was worthy of posting because he felt “it’s a conversation starter.”
KNOCK IT TO ITS KNEES, BABY: Does this 30-second clip show the face of “Jackson” at all? No. Can you hear his voice? No. Is any detail beyond the word “CORONER” in big blue letters on the back of the van noticeable? Nuh-uh. I mean, I get that times are tough and the Chicago Tribune is trying to be as linkbaity as it possibly can, and its item does have the requisite “we don’t know if it’s real, but isn’t it interesting” text surrounding it. But really, expecting drive-by Googlers to actually read the text around sensationalist clips? C’mon, guys. If you have someone on payroll whose sole existence is to give the Weekly World News some sexy content for its brand-new iPhone app, then maybe you should just hang it up and call it a day.
Michael Jackson still alive after hospital transport to coroner [LiveLeak]
MICHAEL JACKSON ALIVE? WHAT THE…?! [GossipCop]
What annoys me about this is I now have to idly ponder why these crackpots would think Jackson would want to disappear. I mean, the guy endured more than a dozen years of child-abuse prosecution, decades of gotcha media and even managed to dodge creditors for the entire last decade of his life. What possible reason could the guy want to go away (Tupac-style, if you believe that BS) two weeks before his comeback tour, when obviously nothing would’ve made the guy happier than appearing on a stage again?
Occam’s Razor, people.
I would download that Weekly World News iPhone app if I were promised new stories about Bat Boy. Oh Bat Boy, how I miss your crazy antics.
Oh, and Michael Jackson. Still dead.
@Chris Molanphy: I disagree with your logical reasoning here. There was no way in hell that burned out junkie was going to make those shows. He desperately needed money or, barring that, to escape from his creditor. Many of which most likely were of the leg breaking variety.
Unlike Shakur, Jackson’s career was/is entirely in the past. His only hope of (temporary) fiscal solvency would have killed him for reals. He had every reason to fake his death.
That said, dude is dead. What surprised me is how many people were surprised. The guy’s been at the death’s door for better part of a decade.
@k-rex: You’re probably right about the concerts! But that negates nothing. You’re talking entirely about financial folderol and very little about motive.
This is Michael Jackson we’re talking about. If the guy wasn’t going to make himself disappear between the horrible years of 1993 to 2008, he never would. I’m not sure I made this point explicitly enough, but: Michael Jackson would never allow himself to disappear if there was any chance he could be world-beloved again. Full stop. The fact that he might’ve been doped up and dropped dead during the first show is irrelevant; he wanted that show like nothing in his life, ever.
The motive to hide out was nil. We saw what “hiding out” looked like for Michael Jackson for the last 4–5 years of his life, and it involved sultans and friendly oil-rich nations, not conspiracy-level subterfuge.
That’s SO True! Michael was only happy when he was on stage. He loved performing. He loved entertaining his fans. & Why Did he had to “Runaway”? Because He was on debt? Well hello… by the end of the tour he would Be A Millionaire, He Would Pay All Those Bills, & Still Have The Money. His concerts were ALL Sold out, So Come On, Michael Is No Longer with Us. People Are Just On Denial.