OK! magazine has explained its decision to use a picture of Michael Jackson's final moments on its tribute issue to the star.

Editorial director Sarah Ivens said the image “captures the surprise and the upset and the moment of this breaking news story”.

But Jackson's fans have already launched an online petition against the cover, which it alleges is “a violation of the basic rights of human beings”.

The picture shows Jackson being given CPR in the back of an ambulance last Thursday. The singer died just hours later in a Los Angeles hospital.

OK! is believed to have paid around $500,000 for the cover image, which Ivens said she hoped would “provoke readers”.

"It celebrated the man, but it also does expose that he was an eccentric character who lived a very controversial life,” she added.

The online petition against the picture's publication had received 207 signatures when this story went to print.

(by Jason Gregory)