The Jackson news was easily the biggest scoop in TMZ’s nearly four-year history. Kurt Andersen, a journalist and cultural critic, said the story was highly indicative of the evolving editorial practices that media outlets are grappling with. Among many journalists, “there’s still this residual but not yet vestigial instinct to think ‘Oh, it’s just TMZ, let’s wait for The Associated Press or The New York Times or The Los Angeles Times before we can say it’s true,” he said, adding: “I don’t think in, say, five years, that will be the case.”

The Jackson family said the time of death was 5:26 p.m. Eastern, several minutes after TMZ’s report, leading some to wonder whether the website looked accurate only in hindsight. Levin stood by the report, calling it 100 percent accurate.