Michael Jackson's son gets TV showbiz job

Los Angeles - The late King of Pop's eldest child, "Prince" Michael Jackson, has started work as a television showbiz reporter, the show employing him announced on Tuesday.

The 16-year-old landed the job - or the show's producers landed him - for Entertainment Tonight, starting by interviewing stars of an upcoming remake of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

"I'm looking to become well-rounded as a producer, director, screenwriter and actor," he said after being mentored through interviews with James Franco, Zach Braff and director Sam Raimi, of Oz the Great and Powerful.

Jackson's father, who died in 2009 aged 50, played The Scarecrow in the 1978 feature film The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical Wonderful Wizard of Oz, directed by Sidney Lumet.

'All thanks to my dad'

ET correspondent Brooke Anderson, who gave the younger Jackson some on-screen tips on interview technique, said he seems so much wiser and older than 16.

"That's what most of my people say. That was all thanks to my dad. He raised me right," said the teenager.

He said he now wants to interview The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit director Peter Jackson.

"I just love the way he shoots (and how) he brings things and depicts it back to life. I used to study his movies with my dad, put the volume off and just watch it, just the shots to see how he put it together," he said.

Michael Joseph "Prince" Jackson is the eldest of the pop icon's three, along with Paris and "Blanket".

Paris launched her acting career last year on Lundon's Bridge and the Three Keys, at the age of 13.