Insana: Jackson's Death Obscured the News

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Like most Americans, particularly those of us who grew up in the 1960s and '70s, I was saddened to learn of the passing of Michael Jackson, a tortured musical genius who, like many famous artists, had everything yet nothing at the same time.

Mourning a national musical icon is appropriate and has its place among the week's headlines. Obsessing over the movement of a corpse by helicopter and then by a plain white van, though, may have obscured the issues of the day that affect us in other ways.

But the 24/7 coverage continued, and trust me, I understand why it's of great interest. I have worked in the media business for 25 years now. And while I cannot and should not criticize the mainstream media for its constant coverage of all things Jackson, the headlines that affected investors most were relegated to television's back pages, if you will.

Here's a rundown of important headlines that received scant coverage, both before and after the news about Michael Jackson hit the tape. (My colleagues at CNBC, of course, were the exception to the media rule, and I say this without bias.)

1. The Federal Reserve "threaded the needle" and issued a picture-perfect statement about the current state of the economy. It acknowledged improvements in the economy and its willingness to be vigilant about changing conditions, quieting the brain-dead inflation hawks who think the Fed should be raising rates now to combat the recent, though unimportant, rally in commodity prices.

While eliminating references to "deflation," the Fed reassured investors it would keep interest rates low for a protracted period of time as the economy attempts to launch a self-sustaining rebound.

Following its statement, on Thursday morning the Fed quietly allowed two emergency lending programs to expire, but extended its efforts to provide dollar liquidity to overseas central banks while continuing to buy mortgage and Treasury bonds, helping interest rates come back down.