Analysis: Jacko's death among top stories

AUSTIN, Texas, June 28 (UPI) -- The death of American pop singer Michael Jackson is one of the top stories of the 21st century for mainstream and Internet media, language analysts said.

In the 48 hours after his death Thursday, Jackson moved to the ninth spot in traditional global print and electronic media, and No. 2 behind Barack Obama's election as U.S. president on the Internet, blogs and social networks, the Global Language Monitor said in a news release Sunday.

"The death of Michael Jackson has resulted in a global media event of the first order," said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst of Global Language Monitor. "The fact that he has broken into the top media events of the 21st century is a testament to the global impact of the man and his music."

Citations for Michael Jackson in mainstream media numbered in the thousands, while citations numbered into the millions on the Internet, the organization said. GLM analysis tracks news stories within the first 48 hours after they break.

Global Language Monitor, based in Austin, Texas, analyzes and catalogs the trends in word usage and word choices, and their impact on culture, particularly English.