Monica Crowley, sitting in tonight for Bill O’Reilly, discussed the media coverage of Michael Jackson’s death with Dr. Mark Lamont Hill, Temple University Professor, and James T. Harris, host of “The National Conversation” in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Crowley began the segment showing some of the laudatory coverage during the BET Awards last night, most notably by Jamie Foxx. At one point, Foxx declares they’re there to “celebrate this black man,” proclaiming “he belongs to us (black people); we shared him with everybody else.”

Later on in the show, Foxx asks the BET audience to “make some noise” because the ‘media is spreading bad stories about him,’ but he needs the audience to show some love for Michael to over-ride that negative coverage. Crowley also played some red-carpet footage of P. Diddy and Beyonce expressing what a bad rap MJ was getting in the press, and it just went downhill from there (for me, anyway). Diddy tried to declare that there was never any negative press about JFK or Elvis, that MJ was one of the “greatest heroes for us,” stating that “he’s one of the reasons why Barack Obama is president.” (Is this something to brag about?)

Crowley points out the media covered white celebrity deaths of Elvis Presley, Heath Ledger, Gerry Garcia and Anna Nicole Smith, noting all reports discussed their drug-related incidents surrounding their deaths. Then James Harris steps in to discuss the reality of the situations, and gives great arguments about the blind-eye the black community tries to use to recognize, in a sanitary condition, the same type of celebrities and their deaths which are really mired in troubled lives.

This was a really great segment. Monica, you did a great job!