Readers sometimes make the mistake of confusing what I write about with what I like. I try to make it pretty clear when I'm endorsing something, but some things are so important that they can't be ignored.
One of those is today's media obsession with the first anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson. On TV, broadcast radio and satellite radio, you'll hear familiar songs, see familiar footage and talk about his odd life and death.
So I'm not suggesting you watch or listen to the programming I'm listing here, just offering the information to those who want it.
I will give you one that I'll check out -- or at least put on the DVR: the 1992 miniseries "The Jacksons: An American Dream," with Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as Michael's dad, Joe Jackson.
If you want to understand how Michael turned out the way he did, here's a primer. The entire five-hour mini-series airs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, and from 4 to 9 p.m. on VH1 Classic
On the radio: As long as this list is, don't be surprised if Jackson music pops up on a station that's not listed. But this selection gives you some idea of where to go to hear some familiar music.
- WKKV-FM (100.7), known to listeners as V100, plans Jackson music throughout the day, with listeners and stars sharing their memories of Jackson and more. Videos and other material will be available at the station's website.
- Oldies WRIT-FM (95.7) plans both Jacko and the Jackson 5 music throughout the days and a lot of material posted at the station's website. Jackson will also be featured on Dave Murphy's "Friday Night Groove Train" show from 8 to 11 p.m.
- "Jammin'" WJMR-FM (98.3) began its Jackson programming this morning with Tom Joyner and continues with his music through noon today, and then in the 5 p.m. hour.
- WLDB-FM (93.3), better known as "B93.3," is playing a Jackson song at the top of the hour all day long.
- Sirius XM satellite radio is offering an Jackson music on many of its commercial-free music channels. The '80s on 8 channel will feature original MTV VJs Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn with personal stories about Jackson as they introduce a different song each hour.
On TV: I'm going to limit this to prime-time tonight, but cable's full of stuff during the day and over the weekend.
- BET is running the two-hour documentary "Michael Jackson History: The King of Pop" at 7 p.m.
- CNN airs "Michael Jackson: The Final Days," at 7 p.m., looking at his death.
- E! Entertainment TV repeats a couple specials produced a week after Jackson's death from 7 to 9 tonight.
- ABC's "20/20" offers a two-hour special called "Michael Jackson: After Life," with a series of interviews at 8 p.m. on Channel 12.
- NBC's "Dateline" has "Michael Jackson: A Mother's Story," with Katherine Jackson talking about her favorite son.
Jane signs off: Fox News Channel anchor Jane Skinner, long ago an anchor on Channel 6, has ended her long run at Fox, telling viewers at the end of Thursday's mid-day show that it would be her last.
Here's her announcement:
Susan and Patti and me: This week's TV edition of OnMedia is available today on Time Warner Cable's Wisconsin on Demand (Channel 411), and features a conversation with Patti Genko, who announced last week that she's stepping down from radio -- at least for now -- to concentrate on her marketing and communications business.
Last week's interview with Susan Kim is now available on-line -- and below:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
