Jackson Not a Member of the Nation of Islam, Bullet #48

[b]Jackson Not a Member of the Nation of Islam – MJEOL Bullet #48[/b] Contrary to what gutter newspaper tabloids and PR firms have been spreading, Michael Jackson [b]has not[/b] joined the Nation of Islam. This was confirmed both by Jackson’s brother, Jermaine Jackson, who is a member of the Nation of Islam himself, and Mark Geragos, Jackson’s defense attorney. The slow-moving revelation was made on CNN’s Larry King Live (Dec 18). Here’s an excerpt from the transcript of that show:

Quote

KING: Is he joining the Nation of Islam? JACKSON: No. No. KING: That has been reported, too. Why… GERAGOS: Right. Because that’s another one of these litany — what I call the litany of lies. You know, there was… (CROSSTALK) KING: I never heard of it. I’m just reading the cards! GERAGOS: I know. I know. Somebody writes it because that was the story this morning. And you know, interestingly enough, this joining the Nation of Islam… KING: Nothing wrong with that, by the way… … KING: What about that report, by the way? GERAGOS: The fact of the matter is — you want to know where this originates from, this — it’s the P.R. firm that the prosecution hired. And what they did is, they played the race card. They’re trying to inject Johnnie Cochran into this. They’re trying to inject the Nation of Islam as some kind of a buzz word into this. KING: Really? GERAGOS: And I tracked it. I got a couple of — on background from various reporters who admitted that the P.R. flack firm that they just hired, their crisis management… KING: You’re kidding! GERAGOS: … was the one who’s out there fanning the flames of this. KING: Because Johnnie told me that he was not going to get involved. KING: He told he wouldn’t get involved.

Some reporters, including Fox News reporter Rita Cosby, have been foaming at the mouth over this story. Is it too much of a hassle to research this information through proper channels instead of relying on shady anonymous sources who may have an agenda, or who may or may not know what they are talking about? Evidently so, as some reporters have repeated this false story–apparently put out by the PR firm hired by District Attorney Tom Sneddon–even after that Larry King Live show. Why would someone or entity want this story put out in the press? Some suggest the reason is to taint the jury pool since many people already see the Nation of Islam as a racist organization toward those who are non-black. It is unclear if this rumor will affect those sitting on the jury. It does, however, bear a strong affect on the court of public opinion; perhaps not in the way the PR firm would want it to. The more lies permeating the airwaves about this case, the worse reporters’ collective credibility will be. Reporting story after story, each of which turns out to be false, will definitely hurt any specific reporter’s reputation when they try to report future news. Fox News’s Rita Cosby was one of the first to wrongly report that Jackson had joined the Nation of Islam. She also reported that the Nation of Islam are “controlling” Jackson and screening his phone calls. Perhaps she should have gotten confirmation from a real Jackson source before running with the story. Thus, whatever information she reports in the future will automatically be suspect, as it should be, to those viewing her show. Cosby has yet to admit her mistake and instead insinuates both Geragos and Jermaine Jackson are lying. Whatever Jackson decides to do from here is his prerogative. However, given the choice between a reporter getting information from an anonymous source with their own agenda, or the defense attorney for and the brother of Michael Jackson, from who would you rather get your information? -MJEOL