King of Entertainment News

About noon Pacific time yesterday, a 911 call was made from the mansion where Michael Jackson was living. Less than an hour later, news of his death was reported. Not by cable news channels, newspaper Web sites or the AP. The first news of the pop star's death came from the gossip Web site TMZ.

"With the death of pop star Michael Jackson," the Los Angeles Times reports, "TMZ gave the most potent demonstration yet of its ability to stir the pot of entertainment news."

Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. TMZ, owned and operated by Time Warner, reported the news 18 minutes later. Suspicious of TMZ after its past reporting, many news outlets instead used as a source the Los Angeles Times, which posted the news of Jackson's death at 2:51 p.m.

"The gossip site once again left TV networks and other traditional media outlets scrambling in its wake, even as they attempted to distance themselves from a source widely regarded as salacious, if not disreputable," wrote Scott Collins and Greg Braxton of the Times.

When the Impossible Happens

Twelve hours after a Metro commuter train crash killed at least seven in the nation's capital, the printed edition of The Washington Post arrived at door steps this morning across the D.C. region. With dual "Probe" and "Impact" headlines, The Post provided some clarity to the frantic live local television coverage of the night before.

The Post examined the What -- "Train Strikes Another, Injuring Scores, Stalling Commute" -- and the Why -- "Experts Suspect Failure of Signal System, Operator Error." An additional headline, "Crash Was Supposed To Be Impossible," highlighted key information and a focus of the investigation:"Metro was designed with a fail-safe computerized signal system that is supposed to prevent trains from colliding."

The Post's online coverage began late Monday afternoon with live blogging by the newspaper's commuter/traffic reporter, Dr. Gridlock, and quickly grew to include audio, video and photo galleries. At one point Monday evening, a local TV anchor quoted comments from witness accounts posted to the site.

The Post allowed viewers to share photos from the scene of the worst accident in Metro's 33-year history and provided an interactive that traces the history of accidents on the Metro commuter line. The death toll was increased from six to seven in an 8:30 a.m. update.