Thriller (Michael Jackson album) video that would appeal to the mass market ended up influencing the way that professionals now market and release their songs. John Landis' production of a mini-movie, rather than the usual short music video, would raise the bar for other directors and producers. Before the success of "Thriller", many felt Jackson had struggled to get MTV airing because he was black. In an effort to attain air time for Jackson, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff pressured MTV and declared, "I'm not going to give you any more videos and I'm going to go public and fucking tell them about the
Trial of Michael Jackson the most (and unfortunately there are few who do not fit into stated majority)." During the trial, Matt Drudge accused the media of largely ignoring testimony and evidence that exonerated Jackson and said, "Out here...Michael Jackson is being literally crucified...I think if you did a pulse poll, of people listening to these local talk shows, they would say 95% that Michael Jackson did all this...because it's based on the coverage." Court TV hired tabloid journalist Diane Dimond to cover the trial even though Dimond had previously been sued by Jackson and evaded the suit with the help of prosecutor Sneddon.