Stop laughing. Okay, laugh a little.
Back in 1994, and continuing for what seemed like forever, the legendary supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer produced new and exciting headlines and articles concerning the murders of O.J. Simpson's ex-wife Nicole and a friend of hers, Ron Goldman. The funny thing is that back then, media commentators on the trial soon realized that the tabloid was actually presenting legitimate information and stories that demonstrated a greater understanding of the case than many in the mainstream media. Even the Times had to acknowledge the importance of the tabloid. The Enquirer also provided an important look at the issue of domestic violence, something they could do because their sources were often really insiders -- maids and other service people inside the homes of the Rich and Famous.
When I was researching media and the Simpson murder trial, I realized pretty quickly that the Enquirer represented not simply a blurring of the boundaries between "serious" and "tabloid" journalism, but something much more complicated: reading its coverage, and comparing it to other coverage, allowed one to understand what I have called "the political economy of crime news production." There it was on the table: information was a commodity to be bought and sold like newspapers, gloves, and white Ford Broncos.
The tabloid was never shy about admitting that it often paid for information. But Exective Editor Steve Coz said it best in response: "let's face it. The police pay informants, prosecutors offer reduced
jail sentences, defense attorneys pay thousands of dollars for expert
witnesses, and newspapers and radio stations are hiring legal
consultants at $2,000 a day. We don't go through that elaborate game. We
say: 'We pay cash.' "
Apparently the Enquirer is still paying cash for OJ stories, and let's face it there's a reason: when O.J. was on the cover, even years after his acquittal, newsstand sales went up. But this latest one is a classic:
Apparently the murders were caught on videotape!
Yep, after all these years, a "zapruder film" of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldmanfinally turns up. This about ten years after a confession of O.J.'s was apparently heard on tape. It seems that a "drifter" who is in jail right now doing time for, yes, you guessed it, murder, says he was at Nicole's house the night of the murders and videotaped them.
Why was he there? Blackmail! Supposedly, he had been doing work around the house, and O.J. spotted him, found out who he was, and asked him to keep a close eye on the place. "I gotta protect my kids," O.J. supposedly told this guy. So this drifter, Glen Rogers, sees an opportunity to make a few bucks by videotaping Nicole bringing men back to the house and extorting money from her in exchange for the tapes. This explains what he was doing there on June 12, 1994. The pictures shown in the tabloid are hilarious; they are photo-enhancements based on descriptions of the videotape -- they have not seen the tape itself which apparently is in a garage somewhere. Of course, these images are no different from cgi stuff that was produced at the time of the investigation, but the headline is pretty clear: Caught On Tape!
I don't know if anyone cares about this case anymore, or if putting O.J. on the cover last month helped sales at the counter. Simpson's subsequent conviction on charges stemming from an illegal attempt to recover memorabilia in a Vegas hotel keeps him in the tabloid lights, if not the spotlight. He has become a has-been punch line, when during the trial he was the talk of late-night comedians for months. Of course, the Enquirer got my quarters when I saw the headline, and that's what they count on. (I do rationalize this as a business expense...)
No comments:
Post a Comment