Elements of Jackson Case Whip Up a Perfect Media Storm

A British tabloid dubbed it “The Day of the Jacko,” while a journalism expert proclaimed it the ultimate celebrity news story -- a perfect tale of sex, pop music and plastic surgery.

As music star Michael Jackson surrendered to authorities on suspicion of child molestation Thursday, and then bailed out of custody, an international swarm of news gatherers did what they do best in such circumstances: tagged along for the ride.

At the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, a horde of more than 100 news reporters and photographers threw hips and elbows into their colleagues to gain a glimpse of Jackson in handcuffs.

Miles away, outside the gates of Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, idling TV trucks with telescoping antennas stretched down a winding country road as correspondents beamed reports around the globe.

And, hours after Jackson made bail that afternoon, camera crews and news helicopters bird-dogged the star’s black sport utility vehicle as it motored down the Las Vegas Strip.

The purpose of it all, reporters said, was to satisfy the public’s curiosity about one of the world’s best-known celebrities.

“Michael is famous in Japan,” said Yunki Hagiwara, a reporter for Fuji TV. “He’s about as big in Japan as he is in America.”

Frank Fastner, an entertainment reporter for the German network RTL, said German viewers have been mesmerized by a steady succession of celebrity news storms.

“Everything is possible,” Fastner said. “One day you have a high-celebrity actor becoming governor. Now you have another big celebrity turning himself in to the police. Nobody would have believed this if it was a movie script.”

The frenzy surrounding Jackson’s booking was heightened outside the jail with the death of a veteran news cameraman of an apparent heart attack. Jailers attempted to give CPR to Bill Skiba, 43, of KEYT-TV Channel 3 in Santa Barbara after Skiba collapsed. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

Communications experts said the media attention was understandable.

“This is Laci Peterson and shark attacks and Kobe Bryant put together,” said Martin Kaplan, a professor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication.

“It’s a miraculous combination of sex and taboos and pop music and plastic surgery,” Kaplan said. “All that’s missing is the white Bronco.”

Outside Neverland Ranch on Thursday, news crews grew increasingly hungry for some kind of action. When a tarantula skittered across the asphalt of Figueroa Mountain Road, news crews surrounded it with lights and cameras.

As the day progressed, some of the denizens grew testy.

When a reporter wandered onto the road with his cell phone, he was angrily shooed away by cameramen trying to get yet another shot of Jackson’s brown, wooden gate.

“Wait a minute!” he yelled. “This is the only place my phone will work!”

Ryan Downey, a segment producer for MTV, complained that one of the more mainstream television types had taken a snide shot at him.

“This bozo came up to me and said, ‘What are you doing here?’ ” said Downey, who has black, polished fingernails and an encyclopedic grasp of rock music.

“I’m with MTV,” he replied.

“I know,” sniffed the seasoned pro.

The spectacle drew not only reporters, it also attracted tourists and entrepreneurs.

Freelance broadcast engineer Johnny Chavez chugged up to Neverland in a red Hummer topped with a satellite dish and cutting-edge equipment.

The rig is worth $250,000, he said, and he was renting it to NBC for $2,000-plus a day.

“Business has picked up real quick,” Chavez said.

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Times staff writers Monte Morin and Tracy Wilson contributed to this report.