Complaints about the coverage and media included using sensational headlines to draw in readers and viewers when the content itself did not support the headline,
[16] accepting stories of Jackson's alleged criminal activity in return for money,
[30] accepting confidential leaked material from the police investigation in return for money paid,[9] deliberately using pictures of Jackson's appearance at its worst,[8] a lack of objectivity[8] and using headlines that strongly implied Jackson's guilt.[8]
The
New York Post ran the headline
"Peter Pan or Pervert", despite minimal information being disclosed by the police.
[8] Just two weeks after the allegations were reported, the headline
(...)
Diane Dimond—a journalist who would spend the next 15 years trying to prove Jackson was a pedophile—ran a story stating, "And one more shocker,
Hard Copy has obtained new documents in the criminal investigation of Michael Jackson, and they are chilling; they contain the name of child movie actor
Macaulay Culkin".
The document itself stated that Culkin strongly denied being harmed by Jackson.[16]
Two tabloid television shows accepted confidential leaked documents from the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services for
$20,000.
[9] A number of Jackson's former employees—most of whom had worked at his ranch—sold stories to the tabloids of alleged prior sexual misconduct on Jackson's part, instead of reporting their claims to police. One couple initially asked for
$100,000 claiming that Jackson sexually caressed Macaulay Culkin. They were prepared to expand upon this allegation for a fee of
$500,000, whereby they would allege that Jackson put his hands down Culkin's pants. When the story broke, Culkin strongly denied the allegation, and did so again in court.
[30] A former security guard made various allegations about Jackson, saying he was fired because he "knew too much",
[32] and alleged that he was ordered by Jackson to destroy a photo of a naked boy. Instead of reporting this to police,
Hard Copy accepted the story in return for
$150,000.
[32] Afterwards, Jackson's maid, Branca Francia, alleged that she "quit in disgust" after seeing Jackson in a shower with a child, but did not inform the police. It later emerged that Francia was actually fired in 1991, but nevertheless sold her story to
Hard Copy for
$20,000.
[32]