For some, Jackson verdict is already in

As trials of the century go, Michael Jackson's is turning out to be a pretty low-key affair.

There are several reasons for that:

Without the soap opera effect created by cameras in the courtroom, trials no longer become the subject of the nation's casual conversation, as they once did. In our wired world, the majority of Americans apparently find little entertainment value in discussing people and events they haven't seen for themselves. No eye contact, no obsession seems to be the rule in these matters.

The nature of the charges against the singer makes it distasteful for most people under most circumstances. There are few well-strung-together people willing to engage in a detailed, no-holds-barred discussion of child molestation -- alleged or proved -- even in private, let alone in a public place or social gathering. Moreover, trials involving charges of sex crimes inevitably narrow down to tests of the credibility between accuser and accused. There's no who-done-it to engage the collective imagination. That's why so much of the conversation that has attended Jackson's trial and the jury's subsequent deliberations has been about his eccentricities, lifestyle or finances. For those so inclined, there's plenty to talk about there.

Finally, all this "King of Pop" stuff notwithstanding, the fact is that Jackson isn't that much of a celebrity anymore -- at least not in the United States, where trials of the century long have been a popular blood sport. By Thursday, there were 2,200 members of the working press accredited to cover the events around the Santa Maria courthouse, but they came from 33 countries. These days, Jackson is an international celebrity but more or less a domestic curiosity.

There is one striking difference between, say, the O.J. Simpson case, which set the standard by which these events are judged, and this millennium's first trial of the century.

Over the last few years, an entire segment of the U.S. news media essentially has elected to pursue its commercial interests by seceding from American journalism. This group includes most of the commentator/personalities on Fox News -- with the notable exception of Greta van Susteren; the prime-time segment of CNN Headline News; and, most particularly, Court TV.