National Security Experts: Jackson Death Could Doom Iran

The Daily Beast:

The jokes popped up almost immediately that Mark Sanford was the luckiest guy on Earth after word broke that Michael Jackson had suffered a heart attack. But the notion that Jackson's death, which preempted virtually all other news coverage on the cable networks last night, is sucking up media attention from other matters carries a dark edge to it as well. National security experts are warning that without sustained attention on Iran, its repressive tactics could grow more deadly in the coming days.

The Jackson story, paired with Farrah Fawcett's death and Sanford's own scandal, "without a doubt" poses a danger in Iran, according to Michael Rubin, an American Enterprise Institute scholar and former Bush administration official.

Read the whole story: The Daily Beast

Comments

[deepfreezevideo]

02:08 PM on 07/03/2009

It's a phuquing NEOCON DREAM, and it is exactly what the AIPAC lobby has fantasizing about, a 24 hour news BLACKOUT that bumps Iran to the bottom of the American national consciousness.
Don't tell me that the media is unaware or that they cannot help themselves...the Michael Jackson news juggernaut is an intentional effort to put Americans BACK IN THE DARKNESS so that they are not aware of the events happening in the rest of the world.

[tubette]

11:29 PM on 06/28/2009

more nonsense.

[humorgazette]

08:35 PM on 06/28/2009

When I read the headline I was hoping it meant -- Jackson's death would contribute to the downfall of the repressive Iranian regime because some of those protesting for freedom would be moved by the death of the internationally renowned entertainer, cobble together some makeshift Jacko shrines in Tehran and send the scenes out on video via Twitter, thus providing further evidence that the regime should "Beat It."

Unfortunately, the "24/7 Jacko media vacuum overshadows the revolution" theory is far more plausible.

[CJWebber]

07:43 PM on 06/28/2009

Do Americans really think their celebrities lives/deaths dictate world events?

Yikes.

[deepfreezevideo]

02:09 PM on 07/03/2009

No, Americans think the NEWS MEDIA has an effect on world events.

[MichaelJacksonToMedotcom]

07:03 PM on 06/28/2009

I was worried about the MJ story overshadowing the events in Iran, as well. I wish that there was a way to balance both things out because maybe he's not always been outspoken about every global social event, but I seriously doubt Mr. Jackson would condone the actions of those in power in Tehran. I think MJ's story gets so much coverage because it's more immediate to viewers/readers than a distant country they may not know as much about.

No matter what, I hope that Iran does not go unwatched by the world for what they are doing to their population

[RaWen]

05:35 PM on 06/28/2009

I for one am tired of reading about Jackson. Yes, his death was tragic and untimely, but why must every section of the news be overtaken by his story? Stick it in the entertainment section (where it belongs) and let us get back to the news that really matters.

[kwoodberryesq]

07:25 PM on 06/28/2009

Don't read it!

[WillCodeForCookies]

04:21 PM on 06/28/2009

I have no doubt the media, including the Internet, is big enough to accommodate simultaneous concerns. My main concern is whether people's hearts are big enough. I can't and I won't generalize my observations to all people but I observed that of my fifty friends on Facebook, only two other friends expressed any kind of interest (on Facebook) about the situation in Iran. On the other hand, as soon as news of MJ's death broke, some ten of my friends were expressing "sorrow" and "shock". None of them said anything on Iran or Neda, the young woman who was so horribly murdered. I hope it's just me, that I am one of the rare ones to have really shallow friends, or that those ten friends expressed support elsewhere and in other ways, but I just don't know. Let's just say I'm not brimming with confidence about humanity in general.

[bogues]

02:07 PM on 06/28/2009

The media can and will do more than one thing at a time. Paying tribute to Jackson or reporting on Sanford's Argentine holiday will not remove Iran from the public's mind and the media will continue to cover Iran. Twenty-four hour a day coverage on any one subject is unnecessary.

[boynxtdoor]

01:36 PM on 06/28/2009

hahaha now i've seen it all :) didn't they even think that when mexicans who loved or are used to eating tacos will not suddenly shift preference just because they were thrown a burger. Give us humans some more credit.

PEACE :)

[Cherubim]

10:45 AM on 06/28/2009

The current dictators of Iran, if they allowed themselves could really
learn a lot from Michael Jackson, who was born a little black boy from Gary, Indiana.
He, understood, apparently, what they do not. One day the youth will run Iran.
It should be happening like in this video, and not through more violence.
All God put Michael Jackson on Earth for was to show them the way.
This is what should have happened in Iran when the youth arose.
It did not. So, now God will deal with the Evil rulers of Iran maybe on Earth
or maybe in Heaven; but there will be justice for the young people of Iran.
Please Watch the video: Don't erase it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W61Q-EZ8R7M

[msladydeborah]

10:17 AM on 06/28/2009

Oh please! Enough with stupidity already.

People who are really interested in finding news on the subjects they are interested in will do so. As far as Iran is concerned-the MSM is getting information from the people there. The decision to go to full blown coverage of MJ was whose decision? After all there are ample stations for the viewing public to get coverage on more than one front.

In reality, the people of Iran are going to have a haul to arrive where they want to be. The crackdown isn't going to ease up just because the media is covering what is happening. There is no such thing as a fast-food paced revolution! So this is just sheer nonsense in my opinion.

[AxelDC]

10:04 AM on 06/28/2009

This is a heavy condemnation of our news media. Some hasbeen pop star, who hasn't had a hit single in 16 years, dies of likely some drug-related heart attack, and the biggest transformation in the Middle East since the Shah was deposed is driven out of the public consciousnesses.

On the other hand, are Americans that narcissistic that we think the fate of the world turns on our cable tv programming? The Iranians may want American support, but America is not going to do anything to depose the Ayatollahs. It is up to them to save themselves. The Ayatollah just wants to demonize his opposition by tying them to the US, who propped up the Shah for 26 years.

[Buddy McCue]

08:33 AM on 06/28/2009

National security experts are blaming the late Michael Jackson for the unwillingness of the Mainstream Media to adequately cover world events?

That doesn't make any sense to me. If the media fails to do its job, how is that M. Jackson's fault?

[kwoodberryesq]

07:31 PM on 06/28/2009

...and why is NSA looking for the media to do there job. Don't tell me that media attention is necessary for public support. I support the Iranian people.

[wbramh]

07:25 AM on 06/28/2009

Yes. A Michael-doomed iran is pretty silly stuff.
But our MSM Idiotica have the collective attention span of a deep sea sponge.
CNN and MSNBS have become the All Michael - All the Time networks. Even the inane channels with "Entertainment" in their names can't out-do the "news" channels for muckingraking in prurient mindlessness.
And while our news reporters wander off staring at shiny things, two wars rage on and third one looms; a critical healthcare debate disappears from the public consciousness and a Worldwide Depression worsens.
Welcome to Never Land.

[JohnSawyer]

06:45 AM on 06/28/2009

Iran doomed by attention to Michael Jackson's death? Nonsense. No disrespect, but most people who won't try to find coverage of Iran while Jackson is being covered, aren't the people who are interested enough in Iran for their attention (at least at this point in their life) to make any difference in what happens in Iran. And anyone interested in Iran, won't have their concern for Iran, or ability to find news on Iran, erased by a few days of Jackson coverage. Anyone who wants news on Iran, can use the Internet--Nico Pitney's blog here on HuffPo, and other bloggers, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.--they don't need the TV networks. That's one of the lessons we were all crowing about for the past week, isn't it? And even people who will watch little else but Jackson coverage, can catch up on Iran news days later if they wish--most news isn't erased from the Internet that fast. Even some of the major TV networks had some adequate summary coverage of Iran during parts of the day they weren't covering Jackson. Only a couple days has gone by with large chunks of the broadcast day devoted to Jackson; during that time, though some major events have taken place in Iran, even more important events there are to come. If some other events occur during that time, that the major news media decide to devote a lot of time to, it will still be possible to find coverage of Iran.