Sunday June 28, 2009
Conspiracy theories surface about Jackson’s death
EVEN as news reports confirming that Michael Jackson had died were filtering out, the rumour mill was going into overdrive with talk that the King of Pop had faked his death.
London’s Telegraph at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/5646095/Michael-Jackson-death-conspiracy-theories-and-unanswered-questions.html, wrote that “even before it became clear that the singer had died, there were suggestions of fakery and intrigue surrounding reports of his collapse”.
“When news that Michael Jackson had been taken to hospital after going into cardiac arrest emerged, Perez Hilton, the Hollywood blogger, pronounced himself ‘dubious’, saying that he (Jackson) had pulled a ‘similar stunt’ when he was getting ready for a big appearance in 1995,” wrote John Bingham.
“The posting, which suggested that the star was ‘dragging his heels’ over the 50 performance residency planned at the 02 arena, was taken down from the site.
“But even after his death had been confirmed, postings from the public continued to insist that he might not have died.”
Also, just as fans began struggling with confirmation that Jackson had indeed died due to cardiac arrest, news began to surface that actors Harrison Ford and Jeff Goldblum had also died.
The social media guide, Mashable, wrote: “Unfortunately, the music icon’s (Jackson’s) death is also spawning a series of other, ugly false rumours about the demise of other celebs.
“Two of the more notable rumours going around involve the death of actors Jeff Goldblum and Harrison Ford. These are completely untrue, but are being spread rapidly, largely due to how quickly they can be shared on social media sites like Twitter.
“While these rumours, which are often created by obvious spoof sites, are fairly easy to debunk, the urge to ‘retweet’ huge news without actually investigating the attached link can lead to a proliferation of false information. And the snowball effect leads people to believe, for at least a short period of time, that the story is true.”
YG News also carried an article about rumours surrounding Jackson’s death.
“Less than a day after his death, there are numerous websites suggesting that the whole thing is an elaborate hoax.
“The rumours about Elvis Presley faking his death still persist. We’ve also heard about John F. Kennedy wanting an exit from the presidency. And there was the speculation that Princess Diana wanted to escape from the media and faked her death in Paris.
“Sadly, I think Jackson actually did die. But stay tuned for the sightings of him around the world. It’s bound to happen.”
(See http://www.youngandgrumpy.com/2009/06/michael-jackson-faked-his-own-death.html)
Related Story:
The Web mourns King of Pop
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