Between the stories, why does it have to be a big fish?

A powerful underwater earthquake which struck off the west coast of Indonesia may well have been the main news of the 29th March edition of New York Times, but it compares poorly with the Michael Jackson trial story which received almost twice the space in the paper (688 words as compared to 1200 words). Interestingly, the Jackson story (“In Jackson Trial, Jurors Can Hear of Other Cases&rdquo had not much to say apart from what had already been said by the paper on its March 19th edition (“Judge to Hear About 2 Jackson Accusers in 90's&rdquo.

Such is the significance attached to the Jackson trial that despite the nature of the trial (long and persisting, often tiresomely repetitive), it has never been relegated to obscurity. Instead, Jackson stories of “did he? didn’t he?” question has hogged the limelight in the leading press as one of the “top stories” on invariably daily basis.

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Tags: Saswat, Academic, Media