Michael Jackson: Man of charity

Applauding MTV's decision to make Michael Jackson their man of the year, the remaining Jacksons are full of kind words for the network:

"I think it's great, because Mike was a pioneer," Jermaine Jackson said. "I really feel he put MTV on the map because of his contributions to music. You made the right choice, definitely."

Perhaps - although, strictly speaking, it was more Walter Yetnikoff's threats to pull all CBS videos off MTV rather than anything Jackson actually did that brought them together, and it's not entirely clear why 2009's man of the year would be given for something that happened a quarter-century ago.

Marlon Jackson also chipped in:

Marlon Jackson agreed, though he added that Michael should also be remembered for something else — his charitable work, most of which he did not participate in because he knew it would earn him headlines, but because it was simply the right thing to do.

Yes. Some people would, say, just announce a high-profile charity single for 9/11 survivors or Katrina victims, bask in the headlines for a few days, and then quietly disappear again, but... oh... hang on.

"There are so many other things too. Michael and the brothers, when we were the Jackson 5, used to go to children's hospitals, and that hasn't stopped," Marlon said.

You'd rather hope that Michael isn't turning up at kiddies' hospitals any more. It would have been upsetting for them this time last year, but now it would be downright unhygienic.