TV executives retorted that Ito’s threatened punishment would fail. “He would be cutting off his nose to spite his face,” scoffed CBS News vice president Lane Venardos. He’s right. Banning cameras won’t deter potential leakers, and it would prevent the only unvarnished account of the trial. But a ban would force fresh strategies for everyone involved in the news-marketing of O.J. As CNBC producer Andy Friendly said, “We are all gorging on this buffet.”
With jury selection beginning, producers were hoping that the case could do for their shows what the Iran hostage crisis did for ABC’s “Nightline.” “Premier Story,” a late-night show that began airing the week before O.J.’s arrest, plans a series of nightly Simpson stories anchored by British journalist Alison Holloway. She won’t be mistaken for Ted Koppel. After Simpson’s friend Robert Kardashian was seen leaving the O.J. estate with the now famous garment bag, Holloway closed the show for several nights by saying, “Mr. Kardashian, where is the bag?”
Tabloid shows like “Hard Copy,” which has doubled its Los Angeles staff to 50 people, are also planning their own daily offerings. Entertainment snows are preparing Simpson features, too. Talk-show host Maury Povich last week “empaneled” a jury that will give a running judgment on the ease. For the network news magazines, the trial is another chance to score with the hot exclusive interview. In recent weeks family members of Nicole Brown Simpson, Ronald Goldman and O.J. have popped up with Diane Sawyer, Barbara Waiters, Connie Chung and Katie Couric – fortuitously, at the start of the TV ratings season. The major network news divisions were also adding staff, but given lucrative daytime advertising, they have decided to leave full-time coverage to CNN and Court TV.
If nothing else, Ito’s warnings may shame news organizations into questioning the veracity of their “scoops” before airing them. But given the public’s apparent appetite, excess will likely remain the guiding policy – with or without cameras.
