Letter from the i editor: What would you have done?

We have had fantastic responses to both Cartoonist Idol, and our news in this space yesterday that i’s first anniversary party will be held at the Birmingham Ikon Gallery on 26 October.

But a small request to those who texted asking for a ticket to the party: we are unable to respond to your texts because we can’t see the mobile numbers you sent them from. So please could you text in again with full name and address, phone number and email address, or email i@independent.co.uk.

Now, on to news matters. But, just what are they? After a dreary August jam-packed with big news stories, we can now enjoy this week’s glorious Indian summer at a time where there is a dearth of hard news. Conference season, the stymied Arab Spring, and the wrangling over a possible Greek default (they will) are not stories that sell papers or inspire readers to chat by the watercooler.

That’s why the media seized on the opening of Michael Jackson’s doctor’s trial with huge relish. Whether Conrad Murray will be proven guilty or otherwise the only sure thing is that the trial, with TV cameras in, and outside, court, will be a circus.

It already is. On day one the LA prosecutor released a grimy, appalling photo of Jackson lying dead on a hospital bed with the giant word “homicide” superimposed on the image. At i we debated hard whether to publish the image you have now probably seen on Sky or several other front pages. We thought it a horrible intrusion into the Jacksons’ grief and not something we’d want done to our loved ones. Of course, that’s just our view. Other editors decided differently. If you were me, what would you have done?