Jackson death tops global news agenda

Morning television shows from Sydney to Tokyo interrupted programming to report the news of Michael Jackson’s death, and online fan pages dedicated to the King of Pop became impromptu memorial sites today.

In Sydney – where Jackson married second wife, Debbie Rowe, in 1996 – commuters in the business district stopped outside television studios to watch coverage on outdoor monitors.

In Brazil, movie director and musician Felipe Machado called Jackson “perhaps the best performer that ever existed”.

In Japan, where Jackson was a massive star in the 1980s, residents were shocked.

Hisako Ishii, a 35-year-old Tokyo resident, said: “It is really hard to believe he is dead. It seems so unreal.”

"It's a terrible day for us all. We will now start remembering him for what he was, the greatest star ever,'' Australian Christos Winter wrote on his Facebook fan page, which previously had been devoted to a petition to convince the star to add Australia to his concert tour planned for this year.

The morning shows devoted full coverage to the Jackson’s death, alternating reporting from Los Angeles with viewers’ e-mails of memories and condolences.

In Australia’s capital, the chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory was asked to reminisce about Jackson during a radio interview.

“I do remember him as the Jackson Five when he was just a boy and I think my clearest or perhaps my fondest memories of Michael are probably from that era,” 58-year-old Jon Stanhope told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio. “His reputation was a little problematic lately but he was a great performer and I always admired his dancing – I thought he was just the most wonderful dancer.

“It is sad, it is incredibly sad,” Stanhope added.