The 'OPINION' section on page 6 in Sunday's "Tacoma News Tribune," June 28, 2009, was demeaning, insensitive, and insulting for the following reasons: Firstly, you displayed the most bizarre-looking, eerie and unearthly picture of Michael Jackson; surely a better looking picture of Mr. Jackson exists but I guess you wanted to substantiate your description of him as "freakish-looking, like a ghostly villain from a 'Batman' movie. Are you sure that you didn't mean ghoulish-looking villain . . .? Then you go on to state that Michael Jackson died as a "pathetic" figure, in debt, isolated, and overshadowed by persistent allegations of child molestations.
The journalistic standard for being objective and not allowing personal feelings to find its way into print just got thrown out the window. Calling Mr. Jackson a 'pathetic' figure without any factual evidence to back up this assertion is just your opinion; and could be pursued in a lawsuit for 'libel.' As far as Michael Jackson being in "debt," everyone has debt. There is a difference between one's personal assets and those as an entertainment commodity; besides, has Michael Jackson filed for bankruptcy? Lastly, as far as the allegations about criminal charges for Child Molestation, Mr. Jackson was acquitted on all charges in 2005, and he settled an out-of-Court civil suit on Molestation charges about ten years earlier. So, in the future, as the former star of the NBC 1952-1959 series "DRAGNET," Jack Webb, as Sgt. Joe Friday badge 714, would say, "Just the facts, Maam." And in the future, the TNT editorial board of Patrick O'Callahan, Cheryl Tucker, and Kim Bradford need to keep your opinions to yourself and not in print!
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
June 29, 2009
pbks@hotmail.com
