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The Times – After Jacko’s death we know that War is Over<br/> The media fuss over the death of the entertainer tells us that the 1960s culture clash has been resolved. Pop culture won, by Daniel Finkelstein

Jackson’s claim to greatness is more prosaic. He sold a lot of records. He may have competed with the Osmonds as a kid, but he outran them, outsold them, outlasted them. Indeed he outsold everyone. I think the right judgment on Jackson’s career is that he was a magnificent entertainer, a thriller (sorry), but not someone who shaped pop history.

And it is worth calibrating that judgment finely — spending a little time on it — because it prompts bigger questions. Why, given his status, did Jackson’s death make such an impact? Why was it covered wall to wall in upmarket newspapers as well as downmarket ones? Why did it attract more serious attention than the passing of Elvis and John Lennon, both of whom were undeniably more culturally important?

Or maybe the media has become crass and venal.