A major, major music star unexpectantly dies. At the same time, there is significant international news. Which story does a newscast lead with? CBS News decided to go with the foreign story - back on Aug. 16, 1977. That was the day Elvis Presley died. Instead of leading with that story, as ABC and NBC did, the head honchos went with a story about how Gerald Ford was in favor of giving the Panama Canal back to the the people of that country.

Flash forward to the last two weeks. CBS not only led with the story of Michael Jackson’s death; it bathed in it. News from Iran came a distant second.

And I’m just fine with that.

There are those that would argue differently. In fact, most might. According to the Pew Research Center, 64 percent of Americans thought the media paid too much attention to the death of Jackson. In a blog, ABC’s John Stossel complained that his bosses had pulled his report on Canadian health coverage so they could run more on MJ. “Maybe my bosses made the wrong choice,” he wrote in his blog. “Maybe more viewers would have tuned in for my health care report. But the beauty of themarket is that if they regularly choose wrong, they will go bankrupt.”

Sorry, Stossel. Your story might be award-worthy, but it would never have gotten the eyeballs MJ is getting. “Nightline” is leading the late-night wars largely because of their MJ coverage. The recent BET Awards had its highest ratings ever, primarily because of the MJ tributes.

The interest in MJ is as high as any story this year may get. I was sitting outside The Local when the news broke - and to watch the crowd slowly learn about the news from their cellphones, Blackberries and ol’ fashioned conversation was extraordinary. This is a story that everyone had a reaction to.

Is that the only criteria the media should consider? Of course not. But the media should not be judged on its decisions on one day or even one week. If NBC News, for example, led with show biz news every night, I would have a major problem with that. It doesn’t. In fact, one could argue that if they did it more often, they might retain enough audience to stick around and learn what’s going on in the rest of the world. Granted, that’s a tougher argument. Here’s an easier one: Michael Jackson was one of the most influential artists of our time. He was also one of the most mysterious ones. That alone should merit interest - and to be snooty about it is a huge mistake.

I must admit, I have a bias towards obits. I have long argued that our paper, and other mainstream media, promote stories about the deaths of interesting people. I think they are often the most fascinating reads and most educational forms of news. There’s a lot of young people - and older people - that may not have understood MJ’s influence on pop music in general, from turning MTV into a giant to advancing a new kind of R&B that all but killed disco. Let’s hope these reports taught them something.

Did MJ’s coverage keep us from learning about other major stories? I don’t think so. The same resources flocking to LA probably weren’t heading to Iran anways. I feel I got enough info about Franken-Coleman, Gov. Sanford and the Iranian election rebellion even with tons of MJ coverage. The news is out there, and if it was a little more difficult to find for a week because an icon died, well, I can live with that.

I don’t know how much Boyd Huppert makes a year, but I’m guessing it’s not enough. The KARE’s ace feature reporter won another national Edward R. Murrow award. By my count this is number 6. I’m not sure how many other regional reporters can make that boast. This time it’s for the piece he did with photojournalist Jonathan Malat about Frank the Duck, who rides shotgun with a truck driver. YOu can see the video at kare11.com. I’ve got a call into Boyd. On the downside: The KARE piece is the only local winner at this year’s awards.

I wasn’t wild about going to see Bill Cosby. Let me be clear: I’m a big fan. He’s contributed as much to television as anyone and his comedy albums helped keep me sane in my youth when the rest of my parents’ record collection consisted primarily of Hindi songs and John Denver. But I figured, at the age of 71, the Coz would simply coast on “greatest hits” and give a show strictly for long-time fans who would be thrilled just to see him stumble out on stage.

Boy, was I wrong. Cosby’s matinee performance on Saturday was not only one of the best comedy shows I’ve ever seen. It was one of the best theatrical productions I’ve ever seen. Period. A show billed as 90 minutes stretched to nearly two-and-a-half hours -without a break. (The 8 p.m. show lasted two hours and was radically different from the matinee; my colleague Rohan Preston will have a review on that performance in Tuesday’s paper and at startribune.com) Based on his account, sounds like they were radically different (except that both ended with his classic riff on going to the dentist).

The bulk of the early show was about his long-time marriage to Camille and it had an arc and depth that made the case that Cosby is STILL the best stand-up in the business. Coz gets more out of long silent pauses and facial expressions than anyone since the heyday of silent film. This was primarily fresh, inventive material - and hilarious. Based on what I’ve read online, these concerts were extra special. (He’s been clocking in at 85 or 90 minutes in other cities). Don’t know what inspired him to give an extra effort in the Twin Cities; whatever the reason, those of us who went were darn lucky.

Ed McMahon was not the biggest star I’ve ever covered. But he was certainly one of the nicest. McMahon, who died shortly after midnight at the age of 86, was one of the most accessible, and disarming guys I’ve interviewed over the years. You sometimes got the impression that Ed was kind of  joke amongst some in the industry (Jeffrey Tambor’s buffoonish character on “The Larry Sanders Show” is clearly a rough “homage” to Ed). But to those of us in the press, he couldn’t have been kinder or more open-hearted.

I found a copy of my first encounter with him, back in 1994, and thought I would reprint it here. If you enjoy it even a tenth as much as I did spending time with him, then it’ll be worth your time. Peace, Ed.

 7/19/94, Star Tribune

  “Win a trip! Win a trip to Disney World! All right, friends.
Someone is going to win a trip for five days to Disney World! What
do you think about that, folks?”

     Stand back. Ed McMahon is in the bullpen.

      After three decades of warming up the most famous couch in
history for King Carson and then turning “Star Search” into the
world’s best-known TV karaoke machine, McMahon should be doing two
nights a week in Vegas. A little song, a little dinner, then back to
the suite to count the money.

    Instead, the 71-year-old star is on the road this summer,
kicking off a 35-city tour in the Twin Cities on Monday to push
“Star Search,” now in its 12th year. And hey, since we’re here, why
not pitch about a half-dozen sponsors, plug the muscular dystrophy
telethon and raise some money for charity. Heck, give Ed half a
chance and he’ll probably move some Ginzu knives in the lobby.
“Hurry up! Two minutes!”

     McMahon, dressed in a Blockbuster T-shirt, black slacks and
black loafers without socks, was working Blockbuster Video in
Richfield, swarmed by about 60 people who had to be recruited
quickly from nearby stores because the video center was empty when
he arrived. To pick the winning entry form from a spinning basket,
McMahon handpicked 2-year-old Conrad Nichols from the crowd.

     “I lost the other guy I work with,” he said in his rich
baritone voice as his wife, Pam, lifted the boy onto a table. “I’m
working with Conrad. Let’s hear it for Conrad!”

     Conrad picked a winner, who wasn’t in the store, so McMahon
called him and left a message on the answering machine.

      “He’ll probably think he won the 10 million dollars,” he
said.

     He then told Conrad he would buy him any video in the store and
slipped a clerk a $100 bill (the store returned the money).

     “You’ll like that one,” he said, handing “101 Dalmatians” to
the boy, who barely said a word. “When you start dancing, come on
`Star Search.’ ”

      As McMahon walked out the door and into the bus, the boy
suddenly seemed overcome with joy about his new buddy and screamed
through the glass door.

     “Bye, Ehhhhhhdd!”

    Not much has changed since the teenage McMahon set up shop on
Atlantic City’s boardwalk, hawking vegetable slicers and pulling in
$500 a week, a fortune for anyone in those days, let alone a kid.

     But he gave up the lucrative life to break into the great
unknown called television. “There were only 2 million sets in the
whole country. Only the very, very well-off owned a television,” he
said, as he washed down a turkey sandwich with a glass of milk on
his luxury bus, equipped with queen-size bed, couch, black-leather
office chairs, microwave, three phones and a hot tub. “Across the
street from me there lived a band leader who would take his wife out
to dinner on Sunday nights. I volunteered to be a baby sitter so I
could watch `Break the Bank’ with Bert Parks, Dave Garroway and then
Ed Sullivan’s `Toast of the Town.’ And I had a TV show then. I
hosted a three-hour variety show for $75 a week in Philadelphia and
couldn’t even afford my own set.”

     He met Johnny Carson, did a game show and then they started
their run on a little project called “The Tonight Show” that ran,
oh, 30 years, and sort of changed the way that television worked.

     “We really liked each other, had fun together, and you get a
second sense of what the person wants,” he said. “One night, Johnny
was telling a joke and said, `It was so cold . . . ‘ He had a look
in his eyes. He wanted more amplification. I ad-libbed, `How . . .
cold . . . was . . . it?’ You can’t just say, `How cold was it?’ You
have to make something out of it.”  Along the way he coined other
household phrases: “You may have already won 10 million dollars.”
“Heeeeeere’s Johnny.” “Hey-ohhhhhhhh.”

     With the end of he and Carson’s run on “The Tonight Show” two
years ago, McMahon has changed some of his ways. Shortly after the
final program, he checked into a longevity center, completely
changing his diet and health regimen. On Monday, he was up at 3 a.m.
in the hotel room, hitting the treadmill.

     “I stopped drinking coffee. I used to drink 14 cups a day,” he
said, sipping on a wine glass filled with Evian water at Planet
Hollywood in the morning, watching part of the “Star Search”
auditions. “Toughest thing I ever did in my life. I was always
looking for that perfect cup.”
After several quick auditions, McMahon stepped up on the stage to
donate his “Tonight Show” coffee mug to Planet Hollywood. “Took a
lot of ribbing for what was in this cup,” he said, “but for 30
years, it was only filled with iced tea.”

     Then he left the mall and continued a whirlwind trip of
plugging products as the next contestant took the microphone.

       “I think it’s only appropriate that I dedicate this to Ed,”
said the woman, as she launched into a glass-shattering version of
“I Will Always Love You.”

A major upheaval in Boston is good news for a local journalist. Andrew Putz, a Stillwater native who has served as Minnesota Monthly editor for the past two years, will become editor of Boston Magazine starting next month. The magazine just fired their top editorial gun and a few other folks. My interview with Andrew will be available at startribune.com later today.

It appears KSTP has been named a Historic Site in Journalism by the Society of Professional Journalists. I’ll admit, I’m not really sure what this means, other than that there will be some sort of celebration Friday night in St. Paul. Maybe employees can now get half off at Dennys? Whatever it is, KSTP is in good company. Past recepients include the Hartford Courant, the country’s oldest running paper and Elizabeth Timothy, the first female publisher.