No Rock And Roll Fun

IS JACKO SWEATING?: As fifty cops search Neverland after a complaint from a 12 year old, we'd imagine his palms must be feeling slightly clammy right now. (You could almost feel sorry for George Bush, who came all the way to Merrie Olde England to meet the Queen and got upstaged by Jacko and the Leeds United Rape saga. Almost, but... )

Watching Fox News coverage of the search was a hoot, as the anchors and reporters competed to remind viewers just how shoddy the Jackson brand has become over the last few years. Would this be the same Fox who, following Martin Bashir's deft attempt to let Jacko talk his way into sounding like a kooky paedo, gave Jackson chunks of airtime to prove that he's a family-style, fun-loving guy, but not the sort to touch children in a bad, behind-the-trees, don't-tell-mommy way? Yes, it would, but Fox News seemed to have forgotten all that, and the sympathetic ear they leant Jackson for his claims that he'd been shafted by Tonight.

The highlight of the Murdoch empire's news gathering for the evening, though, was the live phone interview done with someone, which they only twigged was a fake when the caller claimed the boy's allegations were that Jackson made him watch Howard Stern over and over again. We don't watch Fox that often, but this is the second time we've seen them get their fingers burned because they stuck an interviewee on air in such haste they didn't bother to check who they were first. It makes you wonder how many fakes they miss because they don't take it too far. Is, for example, that chap who pretends to be vice-president really just a bloke who works for a petrol company?