MSNBC’s Dan Abrams wrote about how people are always thinking that every big trial will be worse than the O.J. Simpson murder trial in his “Closing Argument” feature. He’s definitely right.
Except I totally disagree with him on one point, when he says “this has nothing to do with the big bad media putting themselves in the middle of anything.” For instance, both MSNBC and Fox News have had various people on in recent months talking about the Kobe Bryant rape trial, and the Laci Peterson murder trial, and there is always some host who asks “could this be bigger than O.J.?” to whatever pundit, attorney, or Court TV guest that comes on. I’d have to really look back at some transcripts to tell you who exactly, but I’m notorious for flipping around between Fox News and MSNBC in the 10:30-12:30 time frame at night, and know for a fact that it happens. It’s self-fulfilling in my estimation.
It’s not like ratings are driven because people call up news stations and say “make sure you cover this for six hours today”. They cover it for six hours, it does well, so they continue to cover it for six hours every day. If it were “dial a topic”, it’d be another story… I’m sure there are opinions that differ from mine on this topic, but I think that the media is just as much to blame as the American public for this “fear” of huge trials as we get celebrities and high profile individuals in court for various offenses.
