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Death of Michael Jackson Eclipses All Other Stories (Including Iran)

By Robert Paul Reyes

When we think of the great exporting nations of the world, China, Germany and Japan come to mind. America is no longer one of the great manufacturing countries in the world, but there is one American product that covers the globe: Pop culture.

Even in Iran where the theocratic regime holds all things American in contempt, the young people dress in Western clothing and they listen to American pop music in their iPods.

There are religious vigilantes in Iran (sanctioned by the government) who roam the streets beating up Iranians whom they deem to Americanized.

Tens of thousands of Iranians are demonstrating in the streets in the name of freedom of speech, and the ruthless regime is striking back in the only way it knows how by beating and killing them.

The Ayatollahs have expelled all foreign journalists, they don't want the world to witness the brutality of the Iranian government. Ironically American pop culture, whose influence the regime has desperately tried to stamp out, has come to their rescue.

America is in mourning over the death of Michael Jackson the Prince of Pop, but in the last couple of decades Jackson has enjoyed even greater success abroad. Michael Jackson is an international superstar with legions of fans all over the world, including Iran.

The death of Jackson has eclipsed every other news story, including the massacres going on in Iran. The demise of the universally loved entertainer has been a godsend to the mullahs. The Supreme Leader and his religious cronies can continue to brutalize their own people as the attention of the press focuses on the death of a legend.

I don't mean to imply that the coverage of the death of Michael Jackson has been overdone, it hasn't! It is the responsibility of the press to cover events that touch people lives; Michael Jackson was perhaps the most famous person in the world and he inspired millions of people all over the world.

But after the media has given the Michael Jackson story all due diligence, we should once again do our best to cover the momentous events taking place in Iran.

Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.