Anyone Else Find the O.J. Decision Disturbing?
Does anyone find News Corp.’s decision to cancel O.J. Simpson’s“confession” disturbing? It’s pretty scary to see a a major media company as powerful as News Corp. cowed into cancelling a program and a book just because a lot of people who have seen neither product find it inappropriate.
It is pretty hard to defend Fox and HarperCollins slating O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened, doubtless funneling millions of dollars his way. But once the TV interview and book were slated, I hate the idea that critics could shout it both off the air and off the bookshelves even before anyone gets to see what’s in it..
If the dispute involved some sexy crime show opposed by Christian TV indecency groups or, worse, Congress, some of the same critics of the The OJ Show would be defending the media giant.
OJ is unimportant to me. I am in complete control of my exposure to what he has to say. I could choose not to watch the TV special; I could choose not buy the book. Critics had the same options.
What worries me is who will back down in the future in the face outcry over some truly important issue. A Fox News look at, say, civil liberties abuses by U.S. intelligence agencies. (Unlikely? Imagine the NASA investigating gun owners.) Or a 60 Minutes piece on plans for an invasion of Iran. Or a CNN documentary on soldiers that murder civilians in Iraq.
So just remember that the OJ critics just made it a little bit easier to keep media outlets from speaking.
By John M. Higgins
KG commented:
No, not at all. There has to be a line-drawn somewhere, and to me, that line is drawn giving air time to a murderer who has the gall to profit off his crime. It has nothing to do with what is shown.
EZ Money commented:
For one, O.J. did it. He should have taken the "IF" out of "IF I did it".
Second, you're absolutely right. We as a people have control over our exposure to people and events in the media. I respect O.J. Simpson as a football player, but not as a human being, and as a result, I made the decision not to watch the interview had it been broadcast. O.J. Simpson is a scumbag, but he is also an American. And last I checked, America was a FREE country. Even if you or I chose not to watch it, others might have wanted to, and that's THEIR choice. Not that of News Corporation.
The only thing that makes me mad is this: O.J. Simpson is simply using the murders to procure himself more money. He does need it though. He has all those lawsuits to pay.
Yeppers commented:
Amen to that.
Buddy Saleeby commented:
Au Le Contraire!
I find the decision by Rupert M. to be an exhilirating one. It proves that the system is not so out of control as to be unable to correct for its own excesses. Murdoch and News Corp. have lifted themselves and shown that they have a soul-- something that was pretty dubious with this project.
JB commented:
In this country, media outlets have NEVER had a problem speaking about whatever topic supports their agenda and/or boosts their ratings. Anytime the public can successfully slap some common sense into the media on such a no-brainer issue like this - the world is a much better place.
Bob commented:
Isn't B&C about broadcasting and cable? Television and marketing? Advertising and subscribers? I think what you are seeing is your subscribers and audience not buying or buying into something for whatever reason. Any assumption that "the media" on cable or from the regular TV networks is some bastion of truth and freedom as opposed to a thing that will do almost anything it can get away with to generate $$$$ is silly.