ABSTRACT
I started the first chapter of this book with a quotation that underlined the importance of rituals to understanding the essence of societies. I then moved on to discuss the news coverage of Michael Jackson’s death in the media. The question that remained was what exactly does the media coverage of the death of Michael Jackson and other famous personalities tell us about the present day or about media society, to which we all seem to belong in one way or another? This is a difficult and complex question and I fear I am not in the position to offer any single, unambiguous answer. However, it is important that we explore this hidden connection between Jackson’s death and the essence of media society if we want to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between the media, rituals and communities.
