Differentiation or despicable?
OK! magazine is reported to have paid £300,000 for exclusive rights to a photo of Michael Jackson taken as he lay dying while paramedics attempted to resuscitate him. The magazine claims the photo is the last one showing Jackson alive after his fatal heart attack.
The gossip magazine is said to be running the picture on its front cover “to differentiate itself from the other magazines running tribute issues this week.” Is this differentiation justified or are OK! simply desperate to compete with long standing rival Hello Magazine which is also running a tribute issue this week?
The one-off commemorative Michael Jackson tribute magazine was launched on Tuesday and a total of 200,000 copies of the glossy A4 magazine entitled 'Michael Jackson - Tribute to a Legend, will be on sale for a month, priced at £2.99.
This reminds me of Princess Diana’s death and the uproar when the paparazzi tried to sell pictures of her dying to the tabloids, the reaction hasn’t exactly been the same however it’s hard to see how this is any different. This could also be seen as an intrusion of privacy and very insensitive to the family especially since the story is less than a week old.
In my opinion it’s an absolute disgrace. However whilst it is easy for me to sit here and say it is very bad taste and OK! magazine have taken it too far this time, I am not a struggling publisher hard hit by the recession fighting for my place on the news stands. Who am I to say what is right or wrong?
Bad taste or not, ultimately it will be the public’s reaction that really matters and sadly I have a feeling the picture will have the desired effect and similar to the recent Jade Goody tribute edition the magazine will fly off the shelves making OK! magazine a healthy profit.
I guess only time will tell!