Will the King of Pop ever get to rest in peace?

(Greetings. I did say I might sometimes write about whatever moved me. I am a journalist and observer of pop culture. When moved by pop culture, I will write. The unrelenting Michael Jackson news media feeding frenzy moved me. Bear with me. We are back to sarcoidosis and health on Monday)

It is time to ratchet down the coverage of Michael Jackson.

Do not get me wrong: I am all for following and breaking legitimate news about The King of Pop.

The demand for all things and news Jackson remains insatiable two weeks after his death attributed to sudden cardiac arrest. According to a Reuters report this week, his music tops the pop charts.

Undoubtedly, there will be legitimate news when toxicology reporters are released; cops go after doctors, the on-going saga of settling the estate, the fight for custody of his children, his unreleased music, etc.

All legitimate news. But….

• Photos of his sheet-covered body on a gurney from truck to morgue

• Pics of him with the oxygen mask

• The “new” video of him on fire – old video people, different angle

• The rehashing of old news “Why Michael didn’t want to do the Pepsi ad (in the freaking ’80!)

Come on….Ghoulish.

Watching the news media descend on a big story is often like watching hyenas ripping up a corpse.

The quality of what is passing as stories – especially on cable news networks and these “entertainment-infomercial” shows, including Entertainment Tonight - is abysmal.

No wonder audiences are chucking their newspapers and turning off their TV news programs. There is too much fluff coverage anyway, and now this crap. It almost makes me embarrassed to be a journalist. I can only hope our good work is elevated over much of what is passing as Jackson reportage.

I am also embarrassed for many consumers. The demand for anything Jackson fuels the media feeding frenzy. I just wish we journalists used more discretion going after “stories.”

There are other stories out there. Important stories being ignored because the notebook- and video-camera-totting throng is dwelling in a perpetual state of Neverland.

News media, go find those stories. Audience, give a damn.

Rest in peace, Michael, although it would seem no one wants you to do so.