Thread: The timeline of Michael Jackson’s death, as reported in near real-time

The timeline of Michael Jackson’s death, as reported in near real-time



June 25, 2009 | Dean Takahashi



Pop star Michael Jackson is dead. We know that because the media is reporting developments in the case by the minute. At 3:24 pm Pacific time today, the LA Times reported that Jackson was dead. The New York Times already has a minute-by-minute account of what happened, starting with a 12:21 pm PST call to the parademics.

It will be interesting to see who gets the “by the second” scoop credit on being first with the story: the old media, or new media sources such as Twitter. On Twitter’s search function, Michael Jackson and “cardiac arrest” are among the top searches, as is Farrah Fawcett, who also died of cancer today. We’re leaving in a real-time world. This is proof.

It’s a sad day in celebrity news, but it’s also a kind of watershed that illustrates how much the media world has changed. If you recall the day that John F. Kennedy was shot, the AP and UPI photographer had to fight for the car phone as it happened. It took time for the news to filter out. Today, just about anybody who saw the celebrity being rushed to the hospital could have had the scoop.

Of course, the old media does have some advantages here. The current outage on Twitter must have something to do with the traffic related to Jackson’s death.