Britain’s Reaction to Living with Michael Jackson

Last night, the documentary-style program Living with Michael Jackson was broadcast on the UK television network ITV1. More than 14.1 million people in England watched all or part of the program, and with 53.9% of viewers, it beat its simultaneous programs on the English networks. This viewership figure is astonishing. The program brought with it very different, completely different opinions among people. One group received a positive image of Michael from this program and found his words sincere, while another group saw him as a strange, odd person far from reality. Some people were upset by the kind of image Martin Bashir tried to portray of Michael—showing him as a troubled individual—while others believed these remarks were Bashir’s personal opinions and found him to be truthful.