TV Coverage of Simpson Case Criticized : Media: Observers within the broadcasting industry take exception to circus-type atmosphere and tone of the stories. One executive calls it ‘overkill.’

Early local television news coverage of the slayings of O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife and a friend came under fire Tuesday for implying that the former football star was involved in the killings even though he was not formally charged.

Talk radio host Michael Jackson, several radio news directors, viewers and even a couple of television news executives said they took exception to the intensity and tone of stories on Monday evening newscasts focusing on Simpson, whom police sources have identified as a suspect in the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman.

They criticized the extensive live coverage and the circus-type atmosphere created by journalists outside O.J. Simpson’s Brentwood residence, the obituary-type recaps of his football career, and features on violent behavior by other athletes.

Although most of the reports noted that Simpson had not been arrested or charged in the two deaths, many of the stories painted him with suspicion, the critics said.

“What I saw on television was appalling, just a feeding frenzy,” said Jackson, who talked about the coverage at the outset of his morning show on KABC-AM (790). “Callers to my show also felt that the television journalists were out to convict him.”

Chris Claus, general manager of KFWB-AM (980), concurred: “What I saw on TV (Monday) night was pretty astounding. I actually got the impression from one station that he had been charged. I think television really gets caught up in this.”

The story continued to get high-profile coverage Tuesday locally and nationally. Television and print reporters seemingly converged on every place that the victims had lived or worked. News crews maintained a ceaseless vigil outside O.J. Simpson’s home.

Regardless of how the case is resolved, the main complaint about the television coverage was that the tone of the stories had convicted O.J. Simpson before the dust had settled.

That point did not go unnoticed by newscasters. On Tuesday’s 5 p.m. newscast, KNBC-TV Channel 4 anchor Paul Moyer said, after about 10 minutes of coverage: “We have to be careful that we don’t convict this guy in the press.”

Jeff Wald, news director at KCOP-TV Channel 13, said, “I’ve seen overkill” on coverage of the story on stations that he declined to name. “When we get into the speculation business, that’s when we cross the line,” he said.

As the case remained under investigation Tuesday, KTTV-TV Channel 11 news director Jose Rios said that because Simpson had not been “convicted or arrested or indicted for anything, you have to be careful not to do that on the air.

“Now, having said that,” Rios added, “there are certain aspects of anybody’s coverage--newspapers or radio or TV--that wind up raising questions in people’s minds,” such as the question of guilt and who the suspects are. “And I don’t know how you avoid that. That’s an unintended effect of just carrying the story.”

One KTTV reporter, Barbara Schroeder, who was stationed outside O.J. Simpson’s home, defended the coverage: “I don’t think we overdid it.” She added that she hoped viewers were not just watching the pictures but “hearing the words that he is not officially a suspect yet.”

On Monday’s 11 p.m. newscast, KCBS-TV Channel 2 devoted its entire first segment to live coverage of the homicide case. Two related features on Simpson followed later in the half-hour.

Bill Applegate, president and general manager of KCBS, on Tuesday defended his station’s intense coverage.

“Yes, we have a lot of reporters working on this,” he said. “But it’s a great news story.”

Applegate compared the story to the 1958 killing of Johnny Stompanato, the boyfriend of actress Lana Turner. Her 14-year-old daughter, Cheryl, was charged in the knifing, but it was later ruled to be justifiable homicide.

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“If in fact O.J. Simpson is ultimately charged, you would have to go all the way back to that Lana Turner case to find an example in which a high-profile celebrity is charged with a capital crime,” Applegate said.

He added: “We have gone out of our way to say that he has not been arrested or charged, but anyone knows that you don’t get a search warrant from a judge without there being either a hot pursuit or reasonable cause.”

Officials on Monday confirmed that search warrants had been served at Simpson’s Brentwood residence and an unspecified condominium. A police source said a bloodstained glove was found in the Brentwood home.

One story that came under particular fire was a KCBS feature on Monday’s 11 p.m. newscast about the violent tempers of athletes. The segment included footage of a brawl on a basketball court.

Applegate said he agreed with the criticism: “I talked with our news management people and told them I felt that story was not only a stretch but inappropriate before he was charged.”

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Times staff writer Claudia Puig contributed to this story.