With the arrival of the first official weekend of summer, skies glowing in mesmerizing patterns and everyone looking for a breather from a full month of June gloom, New Yorkers already out in the streets have continued to form their own impromptu tributes to the late Michael Jackson. In Washington Square Park, a spontaneous dance party broke out yesterday at dusk with fans doing the signature moves of Moonwalker and Thriller alike, led by the few who showed up in fedoras, gloves on one hand and one MJ lover who went the full nine and had the classic red leather jacket.
Fans continue to gravitate towards the Apollo Theater, where it was announced that they will hold two tributes to the late singer. On Tuesday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m., they will let in 600 fans at a time to listen to Jackson's music and watch his videos, with a few eulogies as well. Then on Wednesday night, the theater will dedicate Amateur Night to the King of Popwhere audience members will also be encouraged to moonwalk and dance like Jackson.
The NY Times has a look at how TMZ broke the news of Jackon's death first—and how other outlets, especially the cable and broadcast networks, trailed: "Kurt Andersen, a journalist and cultural critic, said the story was highly indicative of the evolving editorial practices that media outlets are grappling with. Among many journalists, 'there’s still this residual but not yet vestigial instinct to think "Oh, it’s just TMZ, let’s wait for The Associated Press or The New York Times or The Los Angeles Times before we can say it’s true,"' he said, adding: 'I don’t think in, say, five years, that will be the case.'" TMZ also sent out a press release denying that its website went down after reporting the news, noting its traffic jumped 33%.
