OK! Cover to Feature Dying Michael Jackson Picture, Magazine Sinks to a New Low Just to Sell More Issues

OK! Magazine has sunk to a new low. It has published what it claims to be the last ever photograph of Michael Jackson on its cover. The magazine reportedly paid $500,000 for exclusive rights to a photo of Jackson taken as he lay dying while paramedics attempt to resuscitate him. Sarah Ivens, editorial director at OK!, told MediaWeek.com that she thought the dying Jackson photo would differentiate OK! from the other magazines running tribute issues this week. Ivens said: "It's a photo that captures the surprise and the upset and the moment of this breaking news story. Really? It seems to prove that they will sink to the lowest levels to sell more magazines. This is disrespectful to Michael Jackson and to any other celebrity who has passed away. The family should come out as forcefully as David Carradine's family did when a Thai newspaper published him hanging in a closet.

"I hope the cover will provoke readers. It celebrated the man, but it also does expose that he was an eccentric character who lived a very controversial life.""If you do take offence to any part of the issue in light of Michael Jackson's tragic passing, I can only apologise. Hopefully, you will understand that no offence was intended or meant," Ivens said. Source: RTE Entertainment

The publication was roundly criticized earlier this year when it printed a tribute issue to reality TV star Jade Goody while she was still alive. This sensationalism amounts to a serious invasion of privacy and it is just plain wrong. I wish the family of Michael Jackson would speak out against this and threaten legal action. Surely celebrities deserve some privacy, especially in a situation such as this. Shameful. Just shameful.