News of the death of O.J. Simpson last week stirred all kinds of memories for all kinds of people. From the murders in mid-1994 of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman to the legendary Bronco chase to the year-long double-murder trial to the combustive verdict in late 1995, the Simpson saga remains one of the largest and most complex media stories of our time.
My reaction to Simpson's death and the coverage surrounding it wasn't very different from anyone else's, with one exception. Oddly, but after much thought not surprisingly, it had me feeling nostalgic. I don't expect members of Gen Z or Gen Alpha to understand. The entire Simpson story played out before they were born. For the rest of us, it was the beginning of the end of life as we knew it.
Admittedly, I hadn't felt any kind of nostalgia until I watched NewsNation Thursday night -- specifically, that night's edition of Cuomo. Host Chris Cuomo was off that night, and Geraldo Rivera -- who back in the day covered the Simpson case extensively for CNBC and elsewhere -- was filling in for him.
Rivera started things off in a rather direct manner. "The professional football player, movie star and acquitted slasher killer O.J. Simpson is dead, and while I usually make it a point not to speak ill of the dead, Simpson does not deserve that mercy," he said. "In my opinion, based on the evidence I have seen, he was an enraged, obsessively jealous double murderer who hid his rage behind a mask of affability. He exploited our nation's racial divide to avoid responsibility for the brutal slasher killings that he perpetrated on Nicole Brown Simpson -- his ex-wife and mother of their two children -- and her friend Ronald Goldman. O.J. nearly cut their heads off, then he left town, only to skulk back via the infamous white Bronco slow-speed 405 freeway car chase."
What followed, he added, was "the most sensational televised criminal trial in history."
It remains such to this day … which speaks to my feelings of nostalgia. The entire story from beginning to end was the last major media phenomenon to play out in its entirety before digital media began to creep in and change everything.
Consider the wide-ranging impact of the Simpson story across the pre-digital media landscape. It boosted CNN and Court TV to new heights, galvanizing the ratings for both. (MSNBC and Fox News Channel launched after it ended, in July 1996 and October 1996, respectively.) On CNN, it made Larry King's program, which was telecast live Monday-Friday at 9 p.m., the go-to show for nightly updates and lively, balanced interviews. The ongoing story spiked sales and circulation for magazines and newspapers. (Some might say it was print publishing's last hurrah.) It brought together an unforgettable cast of real-life characters whose stories sold those magazines and newspapers and boosted those TV numbers. Collectively, they captivated the country more than fictional characters in America's hottest primetime scripted shows.
(A personal note: In July 1995, Simpson's usual driver, along with Allan Park, another limo driver who happened to drive Simpson to the airport the night of the murders, both appeared at a celebrity filled party during NBC's portion of that summer's Television Critics Association tour. The press quickly lost interest in cast members from Friends, Seinfeld, ER, Frasier and other hits to dash over, meet them and pose with them for polaroid pictures (the selfies of the day). In fact, the stars lost interest in the press and wanted to talk to the drivers, as well.)
Speaking of celebrities, the Simpson saga also introduced the nation to the Kardashians. (Robert Kardashian was an attorney on Simpson's "Dream Team" of powerful lawyers.) And it greatly advanced the careers of many television news reporters and personalities -- among them Nancy Grace, Harvey Levin, Star Jones and Dan Abrams.
Live trial coverage and analysis, which lasted through most of 1995, crushed the life out of the broadcast networks' daily soap operas. (They had dominated daytime for decades but never recovered after a year of perpetual pre-emptions.)
And in the opposite daypart, it also gave us new lows in late-night talk show humor. (For one example, go online and find tasteless video clips of the Dancing Itos, meant to have fun with the judge presiding over the Simpson trial, on The Tonight Show during Jay Leno's early years as host.)
As Rivera noted, the shocking story largely divided much of the country along racial lines (as had the trial of Rodney King three years earlier, the result of which sparked massive riots throughout Los Angeles that killed dozens and injured thousands). But it also brought Americans together in front of their television sets one fateful Friday night in June 1994 to watch that infamous Bronco chase.
(Another personal note: The Bronco added fresh excitement to a party at my house. We all were riveted. I can't help but wonder, if there were smart phones then, would we all have been watching in self-imposed isolation?)
The story brought us all together again as 150 million people stopped what they were doing one day in October 1995 to watch the verdict -- again, finding TV sets wherever possible and gathering in groups to do so.
Above and beyond all else, journalists from major media outlets at the time were still valued. People knew the difference between an acclaimed newspaper or television program and a trashy tabloid. (Some tabs, it must be said, did break news throughout the story.) I can't imagine the coverage of any aspect of the Simpson atrocity as filtered through the content put forth today by self-appointed commentators and chatterboxes on Twitter and TikTok. Think of the noise!
Indeed, the broadcast and cable networks last Thursday were filled with videos and ancient interview clips that sparked all-too-vivid memories of how we once experienced massive ongoing news stories without the Internet in our pockets and social media clouding our minds. And here's another hindsight reality to ponder: Thirty years ago millions of people around the world kept up to date on the ongoing drama of all things Simpson by the day, if not the hour, devouring the ongoing breaking news surrounding this long-running story even without "benefit" of digital devices and platforms.
Call it what you will … "traditional" media did the job and did it well in what very well may have been its last stand.
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