When death isn't the end of it all

Michael Jackson is dead.  A former idol and 'king of pop' who's fallen from his pedestal, will not be able to complete the revival tour and rebuild his image.
I expected that his death would linger in the news for a little while, as the media loves a good story like this to fill pages and airtime.  I wasn't prepared for the sheer volume of crud that was about to his the streets.  For example, the front page of todays 'The Sun' newspaper:

 

Look beyond the names of the drugs; the important thing in this picture is the fact that the 'story' takes up pages 2 through 15 (although writing each page number out makes for a better headline, I guess).  That number of pages is pretty much half of the entire newspaper.
And here is where it all starts; the content of those pages mirrors the rest of the media, all now alive with the excitement of a good conspiracy story.
Why does the media go to such lengths to make this sort of story into an epic tale of criminality, debauchery and misery?  Do the public really want to read all of this stuff?  Can the media actually prove that the public wants, no, needs to hear about every tiny detail?  I doubt it, but then, the fact that the media all publish what they think the public want, then the public have no choice but to read/watch what is presented to them.
I really don't care that much that Michael Jackson is dead, and I'd much rather that the obituaries were written, read, and then leave it all well alone.
As a consumer, I have only one choice, and that's not to consume what the media has to offer.  I think I'll be revisiting my low information diet plan again.