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Jewish World Review July 28, 2000 / 25 Tamuz, 5760

Michelle Malkin

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Stop milking The Juice

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- BARBARA WALTERS thinks she deserves a pat on her silk-bloused back. Did she save a life? Expose some injustice? Take a lonely stand for truth or faith or freedom?

No. All she did was invite O.J. Simpson to appear on her yammering women's TV show, "The View," which garnered considerable publicity. Then, when her staff and viewers finally convinced her what a disgusting spectacle it would have been to host America's most reviled football star /suspected murderer, Walters disinvited O.J. -- a move that garnered even more publicity. Newspaper headlines heralded the decision. Walters' studio audience cheered on cue when she announced her disinvitation earlier this week.

ABC's exalted interviewer should bury her famous face in shame. What was Walters thinking when she booked O.J. in the first place? Perhaps she envisioned a cozy coffee klatch with O.J. and her "View" mates, all blithely swapping souffle recipes and skin care tips with the man whom a civil jury found guilty of the brutal murders of his ex-wife and her friend. Perhaps Walters thought she could score a confessional revelation or some other news-breaking tidbit.

Nah. Walters, the doyenne of fluff journalism, was thinking of only three things: Ratings, ratings, ratings. She abandoned The Juice reluctantly, a result of nagging peer pressure rather than a genuine desire to put honor above Nielsens. Not that we should expect much from this morally-stunted celebrity chaser. This is a grown woman, after all, who considers Monica Lewinsky a "brave" and "fascinating" gal pal.

There are some news organizations on the O.J. bandwagon, however, which should know and act better. Take Fox News. The 3-year-old cable network supposedly offers the American public a conservative-friendly alternative to the sycophantic mainstream media (like the NBC's Today Show, which also welcomed O.J. for an interview this week). "We report, you decide," the Fox News Channel's slogan boasts. I've been a fan of many of the Fox News shows and personalities, but I've decided to stop watching most of them. The network should change its slogan: "When O.J. talks, Fox listens."

O.J. with Zahn at Fox
On Tuesday, Simpson appeared on "Fox News Live" in the afternoon and on "The Edge With Paula Zahn" in prime time. The network's website hyped the interviews, which coincided with Simpson's hype campaign for his own Internet pay site endeavor (which we will refrain from advertising here). Teases and cross-promotions were endless. Fox News.com proudly directed visitors to an archive of Internet videos of past O.J. appearances. "Juice Explosion," one clip was captioned. "Bitter Juice," decried another.

In October, Fox News rushed to put a 911 call on the air in which Simpson reported having trouble with a girlfriend he claimed had a drug problem. In June, the network had a field day when Simpson called in to "The Fox Report with Shepard Smith" and insulted Denise Brown, his ex-wife's sister. Over the past two months alone, a half-dozen different FOX shows have devoted hours of "news" coverage, including: "O.J. Simpson Goes on the Defensive, "Fallout Continues from O.J. Simpson-Denise Brown Confrontation," "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Six Years Later," "Can O.J. Simpson Prove His Innocence?," "Personal Story: O.J. Simpson's New Job," and "O.J. Simpson Gets Angry."

Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch should just make their tawdry relationship permanent and give the low-life Simpson his own show.

Fox News president Roger Ailes tried to put a hard-nosed reporter's spin on the most recent O.J. appearances: "(I)f he won't answer questions, then I won't waste the time." But why waste air time probing Simpson for warped answers that serve only to perpetuate lies, hate, and denigration of the two dead, defenseless victims? This is not investigative sleuthing; it's the journalistic equivalent of dumpster diving.

While Simpson promotes his latest venture on yet another trashy publicity tour, the families have yet to collect a penny of the $33.5 million civil judgment against Simpson for the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. They will be waiting a long time. Simpson, however, won't remain in financial bankruptcy for long. He's cashing in on the moral bankruptcy of media organizations that greedily embrace evil as infotainment.


JWR contributor Michelle Malkin can be reached by clicking here.

Up

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04/06/00: Read W.'s lips: More new spending
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03/31/00: Sticking it to the children
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03/13/00: Katie and the politics of disease
03/10/00: Maria H, Granny D, and the media Z's
03/07/00: Bubba Van Winkle wakes up
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02/04/00: Hillary's poisoned poster child
02/01/00: Corporate welfare on ice
01/28/00: The silly sound of silence
01/26/00: The Old Media meltdown
01/20/00: The pied pipers of KidCare
01/18/00: Our imperious judiciary
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01/12/00: Dying to be an American
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12/30/99: Reading, writing, PlayStation?
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12/23/99: Christmas for Cornilous Pixley
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12/16/99: Shame on corn-fed politicians
12/13/99: EPA vs. the American Dream
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12/06/99: Amateur hour in Seattle
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11/23/99: Welfare for a sports fatcat
11/19/99: Jeb Bush's political ploy of the week
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11/12/99: A monumental waste of our veterans' resources
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09/30/99: ESPN overlooks athlete of faith, grace, and guts
09/27/99: Personal freedom going up in smoke
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09/03/99: Feminization of gun debate drowns out sober analysis
08/27/99: America is abundant land of equal-opportunity insult
08/10/99: Protect the next generation from diversity do-goodism
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07/21/99: "True-life tales from the Thin Red Line" (or "Honor those who sacrificed their lives for peace")
07/21/99: Reading, 'Riting, and Raunchiness?
07/14/99: Journalists' group-think is not unity
06/30/99: July Fourth programming for the Springer generation
06/25/99: Speechless in Seattle
06/15/99: Making a biblical argument against federal death taxes

© 2000, Creators Syndicate