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The death of international superstar, Michael Jackson was news, but from the world of entertainment, big news.

From the moment the story broke on online entertainment website TMZ, the rest of the media was playing catch up.

There was a flood of coverage that knew no limits; pervading all forms of media; television, radio, print and online.

At one stage, Google was receiving so many hits that the search engine thought it may buckle under the strain.

Listening Post asks why the death of a pop star whose musical peak occurred almost a generation ago, and who had since become better known for his legal and financial troubles, dominated the news agenda in a way not seen since the deaths of JFK and Elvis and become the biggest multi media obituary of all time. 

Salah Khadr reports on Iran and media manipulation, both past and present.

The various steps the authorities have taken to limit the influence that the west and its media are having on Iranians have been well-documented.

Listening Post takes a look further back, first to 1953, then to 1979, in order to provide context for the story.

Iran is not the only country that tries to keep the influence of foreign media under control but, of the governments that do that, Iran's has better reason – historical reasons – than most.

In this week's Newsbytes: The entire staff at one Iranian newspaper have been arrested. and how the media gets shut down during Honduras' military coup.

And in honour of the King of the Pop this week's videos of the week are dedficated to Michael Jackson and our own mash-up of his biggest hits and what the world did with them.

This episode of The Listening Post aired from Friday, July 03 at the folling times in GMT: Friday 1230; Saturday 1030 and 2230; Monday 0030; Tuesday 0630 and 1630; Wednesday 0130; Thursday 2330.