As RedState reported earlier, the family of 76-year-old O.J. Simpson announced on Twitter Thursday that their father had passed away after a battle with cancer.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” they wrote. “He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.”
Simpson was, of course, most famous – or infamous, rather – for being acquitted in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman in a case that riveted the nation – starting with the low-speed white Bronco police chase that was televised – and which sharply divided Americans along racial lines at the time.
While there have been some shall we say interesting takes from the mainstream media in the aftermath of the announcement of Simpson’s death, NPR’s first report perhaps took the cake, with a headline that hyped up his NFL career.
This was how it read on the Threads social media platform:
“BREAKING NEWS: The football great Orenthal James Simpson, known as O.J., has died.”
My god, this post… pic.twitter.com/dFzZZOx0cw
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 11, 2024
As of this writing, the post is still up, although in the next one, they did note that “In 1994, he made headlines when he was accused of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.”
One Twitter user quipped about an alternative headline: “Austere rental car pitchman dies,” which was in reference to the notorious Washington Post obituary headline on the 2019 death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi at the hands of U.S. forces:
”Austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State dies at 48” reads the headline of WashPost’s obituary of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “Austere”? What an insult to the late Kayla Mueller, a captured American who was repeatedly raped by the ISIS leader before the group murdered her. pic.twitter.com/ms242oQ0Nj
— Kelly Jane Torrance (@KJTorrance) October 27, 2019
Back to NPR, the headline at their website has been changed a couple of times since, at one point reading “O.J. Simpson, football legend acquitted of notorious killings, dies at 76.” A non-archived version seen from a Google/Twitter search read “O.J. Simpson, infamous football star aquitted of murder, dies.”
The initial story they wrote on the website has been updated as well. In an earlier version, they didn’t note that Simpson had been accused of murder until three paragraphs in:
The football great Orenthal James Simpson, known as O.J., has died. Simpson was 76 and had been battling cancer. In a post on X, his family said Simpson died on Wednesday, surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
Simpson was a cultural icon who starred both on the football field and in movies and commercials.
In 1994, he made headlines for another reason when he was accused of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. In 1995, jurors determined he was not guilty in the stabbing deaths. The trial was televised nationally and captivated the country. No one else was ever charged.
Here is what they have in the first paragraph now:
The football great Orenthal James Simpson, known as O.J., who was accused and ultimately acquitted in the killings of his ex-wife and her friend, has died. Simpson was 76.
Most of the time how the media operates is explainable because of their liberal bias. The way some of them are “reporting” on Simpson’s death, however, is just inexplicable to me, though.
I don’t care what the mainstream media is writing about the *mysterious* murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman eclipsing a Heisman Trophy winner’s career of starring in Hertz commercials.
Domestic Violence can be fatal and OJ Simpson deserved to die in prison, not a free man.— BrutalBrittany💕 (@BrutalBrittany2) April 11, 2024
CNN and the New York Times are two others that come to mind here, but since NPR is partially funded through our tax dollars – and in the aftermath of a longtime senior editor spilling the tea on their liberal bias, they are deserving of a little extra scrutiny over their coverage.
Flashback: ‘Reporter’ Reminds Us Why NPR Needs Defunding in Remarks on WH Correspondents’ Dinner
