I was born in 1987. That’s five years after Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was released.

I didn’t see the premiere of the moonwalk, and, although I listened to Michael Jackson’s music growing up, I wouldn’t refer to it as the “soundtrack of my childhood.”

I wasn’t around for the birth of MTV and its subsequent evolution – an evolution greatly aided by Michael Jackson. MTV has slowly evolved into something else entirely now, but, as we learned on June 25, it hasn’t forgotten its roots.

The night Michael Jackson died, MTV turned off “The Real World” and “16 and Pregnant” and showed MJ music videos – just as it did during its advent.

Michael Jackson helped usher in the era of music videos, and now, his death has ushered in a new media era.

The 24-hour news cycle is nothing new. It’s been around since CNN debuted (two years before “Thriller” came out). What’s new is the 140-character news cycle – the information overload we experience when breaking news occurs. CNN, FOX News and news Web sites aren’t our primary news sources anymore.

Thanks to Twitter, I was the first person in my office to learn of Jackson’s too-soon death. More than an hour later, I got calls and texts from both my parents, who had just heard the news.

“Michael Jackson broke the Internet!,” some people tweeted, as network anchors finally caught on and began showing footage from the UCLA Medical Center and broadcasting photos and videos of the legendary singer.

The media frenzy that continued for the next week and half was outrageous. I don’t think there will ever be another entertainer or performer like Michael Jackson. But the way his death permeated both the celebrity and “mainstream” news cycle saddens me.

Michael Jackson’s life and his death dominated newspaper headlines, television network tickers and – of course – Twitter’s trending topics. (This is slightly off-topic, but “Micheal Jackson” was also a trending topic on Twitter. Say it with me now . “fail.”)

And to my astonishment and dismay, CNN didn’t even run a news ticker during its live, four-hour coverage of Jackson’s memorial service Tuesday.

By ignoring everything else in the world for hours on end, the news networks and rest of the “media” essentially conveyed to the public that nothing else in the world mattered.

Michael Jackson’s death and memorial service became the only news story.

But who’s to blame for that?

Sitting on a platform outside the Staples Center Tuesday, NBC anchor Brian Williams remarked, “despite, at some times, the news media’s better wishes,” the public seems to decide for itself what matters. “This is an event because it is,” he said.

The fact that so many fans made the pilgrimage to Los Angeles or Gary, Ind., or hosted memorial service viewing parties, made the memorial the huge story it became. Would news networks, blogs and newspapers have paid as much attention if the public hadn’t mourned Jackson they way it did? We’ll never know.

Now, though, with the memorial service over, we can all – hopefully – return to our regularly scheduled news.

But for those of you who have been caught up in Michael-mania lately (whether inadvertently or on purpose), here’s a quick recap of what you may have missed:

Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in jail after scamming clients out of a total of $65 billion

Al Franken (D-Minn.) was declared the winner of the disputed Senate seat

Honduras ousted its civilian president in a military coup

U.S. Marines pushed into Afghanistan attempting to retake the Helmand River valley region from the Taliban

The unemployment rate in the U.S. reached its highest point in 26 years.

Defying a United Nations resolution, North Korea test-fired short-range missiles

All of these were overlooked – due to our many sources of news clamoring to win top billing, we have changed the definition of “newsworthy.”

Sites such as Twitter have made it easier for us to pick our own news – if you don’t want to hear about the crisis in Honduras, you don’t have to. If you only want the latest celebrity gossip, that’s all you’ll get.

As news consumers in the 21st century, we have a greater responsibility to make sure we’re informed about issues that truly matter. We have the capability to receive breaking news on our phones, but not everyone will choose to stay so informed. And that’s the real danger of the 140-character news cycle.

- Shannon Otto is a 2009 alumna with a degree in journalism. Her favorite Michael Jackson song is “Will You Be There” (aka “The Free Willy song”).