EDITORIAL – Town charging media to cover Jackson trial

Jury selection isn’t over in Michael Jackson’s trial, and already many media outlets are… Jury selection isn’t over in Michael Jackson’s trial, and already many media outlets are rehashing every moment of the preliminaries, preparing for the biggest trial-of-the-century since the last one.

As part of this coverage, many press outlets have stationed reporters in Santa Maria, Calif., so they have people on the scene if Jackson so much as blinks or dangles another baby from a balcony.

But this coverage is going to cost them. Santa Barbara County officials want to charge members of the media for the privilege of staying there, hoping to recoup losses from what looks to be a lengthy, highly-hyped trial. The Los Angeles Times reports that the county is asking for $125 per newspaper and $300 per national television outfit per court day. These fees were once part of an informal arrangement between the county and the media, with the media footing part of the bill. But now the county wants to solidify the costs.

We can’t blame the town for trying. The media has seized on this trial, which combines the allure of voyeurism, sex crime and the ever-dysfunctional Jackson family into one sensational package. The story is reported with the sort of breathless play-by-play reserved for especially juicy tidbits, and without the gravity that it deserves.

Jackson, who’s been charged with molesting a teenage boy, giving him alcohol and conspiring to hold him and his family captive, is clearly not a completely functional person. The public peering into his sad life exacerbates this. Much of the media has enabled it, too, with “Wacko Jacko” headlines — thank you, New York Post — and coverage more extensive than that of the elections in Iraq.

Some press coverage is needed. Trials like these raise questions bigger than the crimes they involve. The O.J. Simpson trial brought many of this country’s racial issues to the forefront. The Scott Peterson trial brought up questions of when life begins, both medically and legally. Jackson’s trial may bring up similar topics, or it may just be another exercise in celebrity obsession.

Even so, by swarming into Santa Maria, these reporters are stretching the town’s limited resources. But the town’s response doesn’t set a good precedent for future coverage. Charging the media to do its job means that small outlets won’t be able to cover the current trial, and that towns can extort what they want from the press.

Most of the money, which adds up to about $7,500 daily, is being used for deputy sheriffs to patrol the press. This seems like a bit of a markup, especially considering that there are crowds of Jackson’s fans outside the courthouse, none of whom have to pay. To keep things in perspective, the press outside the Simpson trial those many years ago was charged only for the use of a parking lot.

There’s no clear winner here. The media will pay, whether its in direct fees or in increased tax revenue — we hear reporters like to eat and drink on occasion. The town’s infrastructure will take a beating. The truth, which is supposed to be the point of this whole exercise, will get lost in the collision.