Perceptions of the O.J. Simpson Murder Trial and its News Coverage

Abstract

The O.J. Simpson criminal trial was the most extensively covered in U.S.
history. Not only was it reported virtually daily (usually on the front
page) in the nation's newspapers and television newscasts, but CNN
brought the trial to home and work-place television sets nearly
"gavel-to-gavel." It quickly became obvious that public interest in the
trial was about more than murder. It had to do with celebrity, justice,
wealth, sex and race. The situation presented an excellent opportunity
to study perceptions about an almost universally-known event, the
underlying social issues attracting the massive interest and the news
media coverage that linked them. This study, conducted near the middle
of the trial, identified four viewpoints about the trial and its
coverage. Additional insight was gained by asking four news media
gatekeepers to provide second-order Q sorts as they thought "typical"
news readers might.