• Subscribe to our newsletter
The Media Online
  • Home
  • MOST Awards
  • News
    • Awards
    • Media Mecca
  • Print
    • Newspapers
    • Magazines
    • Publishing
  • Broadcasting
    • TV
    • Radio
    • Cinema
    • Video
  • Digital
    • Mobile
    • Online
  • Agencies
    • Advertising
    • Media agency
    • Public Relations
  • OOH
    • Events
  • Research & Education
    • Research
    • Media Education
      • Media Mentor
  • Press Office
    • Press Office
    • TMO.Live Blog
    • Events
    • Jobs
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • MOST Awards
  • News
    • Awards
    • Media Mecca
  • Print
    • Newspapers
    • Magazines
    • Publishing
  • Broadcasting
    • TV
    • Radio
    • Cinema
    • Video
  • Digital
    • Mobile
    • Online
  • Agencies
    • Advertising
    • Media agency
    • Public Relations
  • OOH
    • Events
  • Research & Education
    • Research
    • Media Education
      • Media Mentor
  • Press Office
    • Press Office
    • TMO.Live Blog
    • Events
    • Jobs
No Result
View All Result
The Media Online
No Result
View All Result
Home Press

Has the media learned anything since the O.J. Simpson trial?

With a captivated nation glued to their TVs, radios and newspapers, media outlets rolled out a slate of trial experts to offer daily commentary. This template would become the norm for future celebrity trials.

by Frankie Bailey
April 17, 2024
in Press
0 0
0
Has the media learned anything since the O.J. Simpson trial?

O.J. Simpson shows the jury a pair of gloves, similar to those found near the crime scene, during his trial in Los Angeles in 1995. POO/AFP via Getty Images

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

With the death of O.J. Simpson, I can’t help but wonder whether the media has learned any lessons from its coverage of his trial, in which the ex-football star was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend.

In many ways, the “trial of the century” brought out some of the media’s worst impulses.

As criminologist Gregg Barak explained, the O.J. Simpson case was a true “spectacle” – essentially a nine-month live news broadcast. At the same time, because of Simpson’s celebrity, the case was being followed as popular culture.

Of course, crimes have always attracted morbid interest, generating media attention and inspiring true-crime narratives.

But since the late 20th century, this has occurred more often – sometimes even before a trial has ended. The lines between news and entertainment have become increasingly blurred – what criminologist Ray Surette calls “infotainment” – with race, class and the quest for ratings influencing which crimes get covered and how they get portrayed.

Trial by media

Whenever I teach the O.J. Simpson trial in my criminal justice classes, I bring up a late-19th century murder case involving a white, upperclass woman named Lizzie Borden.

Both Simpson and Borden were accused of double murder – and both of their trials became a media circus.

In August 1892, Andrew Borden, a wealthy businessman, and Abby, his second wife, were hacked to death in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Accused of killing her father and hated stepmother, their 32-year-old daughter, Lizzie, became the subject of exhaustive media coverage.

A century before O.J. Simpson hired what the media called a legal “dream team,” Borden had a star-studded defense team that included a former governor and the Borden family lawyer. Like the Simpson case, the legal strategies of the prosecutor and the Borden defense team were subjected to much media scrutiny.

Most of the evidence against Borden was circumstantial; in the end, she was acquitted by an all-male jury that may have found it difficult to believe a respectable spinster could commit such a horrific crime.

Yet, Borden was never able to escape the stigma of having been accused of murder. Upon being set free, she found herself ostracised by former friends. For years, newspaper coverage documented Borden’s life after her acquittal. Since her death, the countless books, articles, a made-for-TV movie – even a recent TV series about Borden’s life after the trial – demonstrate the staying power of the high-profile, 19th-century trial.

Like Borden, Simpson was able to use his class and wealth to his advantage. But he also was excoriated during and after his trial.

Celebrity crimes make good TV

Of course, there was no television in Borden’s time.

On Oct. 3, 1995, an estimated 150 million Americans tuned in to hear the jury’s verdict in the O.J. Simpson trial. It marked the culmination of 16 months of wall-to-wall, prime-time television coverage.

On the evening of June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Lyle Goldman, were slashed to death outside Nicole Simpson’s upscale condo in Los Angeles, California. After the police pursued O.J. Simpson’s white Bronco in a low-speed car chase that mesmerised TV viewers, O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with the murders.

For the broadcast networks and their fledgling cable news counterparts, it was a recipe for high drama – and high ratings.

With a captivated nation glued to their TVs, radios and newspapers, media outlets rolled out a slate of trial experts to offer daily commentary. This template would become the norm for future celebrity trials, as a cottage industry of legal pundits would appear on the airwaves to comment on cases ranging from Tom Brady’s ‘Deflategate’ lawsuit to the indictments of former President Donald Trump since he left office in 2021.

Post-trial research has found that audience perceptions of guilt or innocence in the Simpson trial were shaped by the amount – and type – of media consumed. The more someone became sucked into the daily happenings of the trial, the more likely they were to become emotionally invested in O.J.’s life. Developing what’s known as a parasocial bond, they became more likely to believe in his innocence.

How the media colours crime and race

When the jury declared Simpson innocent, reactions largely fell along racial lines. Throngs of white Americans responded with shock, dismay – even anger – while crowds of Black Americans responded with elation.

Polls and surveys later found people’s reactions to the verdict reflected not only their opinion about Simpson’s guilt or innocence, but also their beliefs about race and the fairness of the country’s criminal justice system.

Television screen featuring a Black man's face accompanied by text reading 'O.J. Simpson: The Trial.'
O.J. Simpson’s trial became must-see TV.
Barbara Alper/Getty Images

Scholars today also realise that the media, when constructing narratives about crime and justice, will often fall back on tropes and stereotypes.

Shaped and reinforced by the media, these constructs influence how offenders and victims are perceived. For example, one 2004 study revealed that newspaper coverage tends to depersonalise female victims of violent crimes. And a 2018 study found that the race of a mass shooter will colour how the media covers the crime and the accused, with the violent acts of white criminals depicted as unfortunate anomalies of circumstance and mental illness.

Simpson’s own relationship to race was always complicated.

In a 1970 New York Times article titled For the Black Athlete, New Advances, reporter Robert Lipsyte quoted Simpson describing how he had overheard a racial slur while attending a wedding with mostly white guests. Lipsyte wrote that race relations would have to improve dramatically for Simpson “to be able to transcend blackness in his public image.”

By the 1990s, Simpson seemed to have done just that. A middle-aged O.J. had achieved celebrity status, and he appeared to have transcended this blackness by distancing himself from poor and working-class black people, while gaining the acceptance of white people who saw him as a celebrity immune to the trappings of racial stereotypes.

Despite some incidents of domestic violence, Simpson had been able to maintain this genial reputation – until he was accused of the murder of his white ex-wife and her friend.

Simpson’s fall from grace was symbolised by a controversial 1994 Time magazine cover photo, which some claim was altered to make Simpson’s skin appear darker.

By 2014, the gap between how Black people and white people viewed Simpson’s verdict had narrowed: Black people were far more likely to believe that Simpson was guilty.

However, Simpson’s fragile public image was a reminder of the limits of his ability to transcend race. And there’s no indication that Black Americans have any more confidence in the U.S. criminal justice system today than they did in 1995.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on Feb. 3, 2016.The Conversation


Frankie Bailey, Professor of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, State University of New York

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


 

Tags: broadcasterscelebritycelebrity trialclassmedianewspapersNicole SmithOJ Simpsonracereporterstelevisiontrialtrial by media

Frankie Bailey

Prior to coming to the School of Criminal Justice in 1990, Frankie Bailey was acting assistant vice-president for academic affairs and associate professor of criminal justice at Kentucky State University in Frankfort. Her academic pursuits focus on crime history, crime and mass media/popular culture, and material culture. She has done research on topics related to images of victims, offenders, and criminal justice agents in American culture. She is interested in the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality. Her current research focuses on dress and appearance. Her books include Out of the Woodpile: Black Characters Crime and Detective Fiction (1991), nominated for the Mystery Writers of America 1992 Edgar Award for Criticism and Biography. With Steven Chermak, she co-edited Famous American Crimes and Trials (2004) With Donna C. Hale, she is the author of Blood on Her Hands: The Social Construction of Women, Sexuality, and Murder (2004).

Follow Us

  • twitter
  • threads
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Kelders van Geheime: The characters are here

Kelders van Geheime: The characters are here

March 22, 2024
Dissecting the LSM 7-10 market

Dissecting the LSM 7-10 market

May 17, 2023
Keri Miller sets the record straight after being axed from ECR

Keri Miller sets the record straight after being axed from ECR

April 23, 2023
Getting to know the ES SEMs 8-10 (Part 1)

Getting to know the ES SEMs 8-10 (Part 1)

February 22, 2018
Sowetan proves that sex still sells

Sowetan proves that sex still sells

105
It’s black. It’s beautiful. It’s ours.

Exclusive: Haffajee draws a line in the sand over racism

98
The Property Magazine and Media Nova go supernova

The Property Magazine and Media Nova go supernova

44
Warrant of arrest authorised for Media Nova’s Vaughan

Warrant of arrest authorised for Media Nova’s Vaughan

41
South Africa’s commerce media moment has arrived

South Africa’s commerce media moment has arrived

May 30, 2025
Seven Days on Social Media: Child Protection Week, #MyDisappointment and a soppy seal

Seven Days on Social Media: Child Protection Week, #MyDisappointment and a soppy seal

May 30, 2025
Navigating the AI tide without losing our humanity

Navigating the AI tide without losing our humanity

May 29, 2025
The marketing mission remains clear

The marketing mission remains clear

May 29, 2025

Recent News

South Africa’s commerce media moment has arrived

South Africa’s commerce media moment has arrived

May 30, 2025
Seven Days on Social Media: Child Protection Week, #MyDisappointment and a soppy seal

Seven Days on Social Media: Child Protection Week, #MyDisappointment and a soppy seal

May 30, 2025
Navigating the AI tide without losing our humanity

Navigating the AI tide without losing our humanity

May 29, 2025
The marketing mission remains clear

The marketing mission remains clear

May 29, 2025

ABOUT US

The Media Online is the definitive online point of reference for South Africa’s media industry offering relevant, focused and topical news on the media sector. We deliver up-to-date industry insights, guest columns, case studies, content from local and global contributors, news, views and interviews on a daily basis as well as providing an online home for The Media magazine’s content, which is posted on a monthly basis.

Follow Us

  • twitter
  • threads

ARENA HOLDING

Editor: Glenda Nevill
glenda.nevill@cybersmart.co.za
Sales and Advertising:
Tarin-Lee Watts
wattst@arena.africa
Download our rate card

OUR NETWORK

TimesLIVE
Sunday Times
SowetanLIVE
BusinessLIVE
Business Day
Financial Mail
HeraldLIVE
DispatchLIVE
Wanted Online
SA Home Owner
Business Media MAGS
Arena Events

NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTION

 
Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2015 - 2023 The Media Online. All rights reserved. Part of Arena Holdings (Pty) Ltd

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • MOST Awards
  • News
    • Awards
    • Media Mecca
  • Print
    • Newspapers
    • Magazines
    • Publishing
  • Broadcasting
    • TV
    • Radio
    • Cinema
    • Video
  • Digital
    • Mobile
    • Online
  • Agencies
    • Advertising
    • Media agency
    • Public Relations
  • OOH
    • Events
  • Research & Education
    • Research
    • Media Education
      • Media Mentor
  • Press Office
    • Press Office
    • TMO.Live Blog
    • Events
    • Jobs

Copyright © 2015 - 2023 The Media Online. All rights reserved. Part of Arena Holdings (Pty) Ltd

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?