Breaking News

As a meanwhile established blogger, I think that I am supposed to comment as well on the most latest of all news: Michael Jackson, the king of pop, is dead. At the peak of his success I was a fan, especially the music videos thrilled me. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to see him live. Despite the shock which his death has caused, it completes the eventful life of the singer, who, this is what many assume, despaired of his never-lived childhood.

Totally out of my usual habits, on the morning when the news came out, I turned on the TV which was stilled tuned to a German channel. In the news report, Jackson‘s death was the main headline, and the presenter seemed very touched. The reports from Los Angeles and from other corners of the world were all filled with understandable grief and spread the necessary dramatic. Yet they also showed Michael as an idol who is joining the likes of Elvis Presley, James Dean, John Lennon and Lady Diana.

As most people, I was totally surprised and shocked about this message. To make it clear: I think that Michael Jackson died much too early and he would have deserved a longer life. However, he will live on in his music.

We will always remember where we were and what we did when we heard about his death. And thanks to modern communication we can share this with the entire world nowadays. I am fascinated by how this information „machinery“ works. Numerous celebrities, among them Celine Dion, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Britney Spears and even the American president Barak Obama share their feelings in various media. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and many more tweet on Twitter, how shocked they were by Michael‘s death. There is Facebook groups which acquire thousands of new members within a very short time. People like you and me express their feelings on their personal page and send e-mails and SMS. And, as mentioned before, many bloggers feel they need to comment on this issue.

The traditional media of course fulfil their duty and change their programmes, play Michael Jackson songs all day and quote everybody who has something to say. In a nutshell, the entire world is briefed within a few hours. With a likely coverage of 90 %, since there must be some primitive people who live without mobile phones and internet and who also do not receive freshly printed newspapers daily.

What a domino effect! I think we can take a leaf out of this book of communication mix and can learn a lot. It is not enough to send a message only on one frequency if we want it to reach a large audience. We have to pull out all the stops to address all target groups. And because new canteen opening hours or the request to stick to the house rules are not being spread automatically, we need to feed the different channels ourselves. Then we as well will reach a fantastic 90 % coverage.

And this is what we can learn from it:

Do not rely on a single medium if you would like to reach loads of people directly and quickly.

New media are being taken for granted nowadays. Let‘s use them!