Poll: 2 in 3 Americans say news organizations gave Michael Jackson’s death too much coverage

Poll: 64 percent say too much Jackson coverage

LOS ANGELES — Nearly two in three Americans say news organizations have given too much coverage to the death of Michael Jackson, but half say the media have struck the right balance between covering the pop star’s personal life and musical career.

In a Pew Research Center poll published Wednesday, 64 percent of those surveyed said Jackson’s death last week in Los Angeles has received too much coverage, 29 percent said the story received the right amount and 3 percent said the story got too little attention.

Thirty percent said they followed the story very closely, though that number jumped to 80 percent among blacks, according to the independent public opinion research group.

Pew interviewed about 1,000 adults for the poll, which has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.5 percentage points.