N.Y. Paper Runs Ad For O.J. Video

When it came to running ads and commercials for O.J. Simpson’s new $29.95 video, “O.J. Simpson: The Interview,” many media organizations that played the murder-trial story front and center for months suddenly found ads for the video “inappropriate,” “objectionable” or “too controversial.”

But the tide may be turning for Simpson - at least as far as the media’s rejection of the ads.

On Monday, no less a guardian of free speech in America than The New York Times broke the near-boycott, running a quarter-page ad for the Simpson video.

“The O.J. Simpson video is a legal product,” The New York Times said in a statement Tuesday. “We try to keep our pages as open as possible, within reason, to advertisers as part of the essential ingredients that make up the broad concept of a free press. Like with any other ad, the reader makes the decision whether he or she will buy the product.”

Late Tuesday, there was no word of protests or complaints about the ad.

At issue, of course, are Simpson’s rights and the media’s prerogatives.

Under the law, say First Amendment experts, Simpson has no legal right to demand the ads be run. Media outlets can and do reject advertisers as a matter of routine, often citing community standards, potential legal liabilities or fear that a product is bogus.