The media world gathers to remember Richard Leibner, the AP raises ethical questions about Cesar Conde sitting on the boards of Walmart and PepsiCo while serving as NCBU News Group boss, Jim VandeHei gets candid about how A.I. will "eviscerate the weak," A24's "Civil War" offers a political extremism warning, Donald Trump reportedly expresses interest in getting closer with Lachlan Murdoch, Taylor Swift puts her music back on TikTok, Paramount announces it will re-release "Interstellar" in IMAX 70MM, and so much more. But first, the A1.

The O.J. Effect

CNN Photo Illustration/NewsBase/AP

O.J. Simpson gripped the nation's attention for a final time Thursday.

As breaking news banners and push alerts crashed onto screens from coast to coast, stunning millions with news of the former National Football League star's death, the moment produced one last Simpson-centric collective event for the national consciousness.

But the impact the former Heisman Trophy-winning running back, who spellbound the nation as he was tried and ultimately acquitted for the gruesome murder of his ex-wife, left imprinted on America's media environment will endure long beyond his death.

In fact, it is not out of the question to wonder: Would Donald Trump have ever risen to political power and become president without Simpson?

On its surface, that might seem far-fetched. But the impression that Simpson's all-consuming trial had on shaping the modern media environment cannot be overstated. From the moment Simpson led police on a low-speed chase down a Los Angeles freeway after being charged with the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, the media landscape was never the same. 

Simpson's ensuing trial in 1995 drew astonishing audience interest, with an unprecedented 150 million people tuning in on October 3 to watch the stunning verdict delivered live on television. The extraordinary attention the case generated helped launch the careers of a generation of household media stars, including Jeffrey Toobin, Nancy Grace, Greta Van Susteren, Dan Abrams, Harvey Levin, Gregg Jarrett, and scores of others.

The trial was also a milestone for the use of live TV cameras in the courtroom, transforming a typically closed-to-the-public process of justice into a cultural and entertainment spectacle that is still widely known as the Trial of the Century. Judge Lance Ito's decision still resonates to this day, with judges often criticizing the "circus" atmosphere created by the trial as they weigh whether to allow the public to view such proceedings.

But the most consequential effects the trial had on American life were far broader. Simpson's trial gave way to a media landscape dominated by salacious reality television and talking head-driven cable news.

Not only did Simpson's trial catapult Robert Kardashian (and thus the entire Kardashian family) to fame, it also served as the first major reality television show to hypnotize the nation, giving way in later years to a number of programs aimed at capitalizing off unscripted high-drama.

Meanwhile, the wall-to-wall coverage of Simpson's legal showdown, having entranced the nation, delivered a hefty viewership boost to outlets such as CNN and Court TV, helping to cement cable's role as a destination for live news. Prior to the legal drama, Americans generally relied on the nightly newscasts for their daily dose of headlines. But the Simpson trial produced endless hours of courtroom theater, prompting viewers to tune in before the likes of Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw made their way to air.

In fact, according to a 1995 report in The New York Times, the surge in cable television viewership was so significant that it actually reduced the audience for the three broadcast nightly news programs. Andy Lack, then president of NBC News, said the impact was so pronounced that he worried about the Peacock network taking a "significant economic hit."

The Simpson trial's footprint on cable news did not stop there. According to media historian and University of Maine Communications and Journalism professor Michael Socolow, the trial helped persuade Rupert Murdoch into launching Fox News. Socolow said the Australian media mogul "grew enraged" watching CNN founder Ted Turner "rake in" an estimated $200 million from the live coverage of Simpson's trial. And, to that end,  Socolow said Murdoch was energized to launch his right-wing alternative in 1996 to grab his own slice of the lucrative pie.

It's difficult to imagine Trump being elected to the White House without the three-legged stool that Simpson's trial played a crucial role in building. Is there a Trump presidency without reality television? Or cable news? Or, especially, Fox News?

Trump exploited each of those branches of the post-Simpson media environment to gain fame. And then he ultimately used them to cease — and hold onto — political power.

"Simpson proved enormous profits could be generated from high ratings from programming that did not require actors and writers and sets. Reality TV had started earlier, but after Simpson there was a massive profusion of 'Reality TV,'" Socolow said in an email. "That's how 'The Apprentice' gave Donald Trump a comeback in American culture, and he rode his reality TV stardom to the White House."

CNN Photo Illustration/Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

What was it like covering The Chase and the Simpson trial? We asked three key journalists to recall their experiences. Below are their thoughts, slightly edited for clarity:

► Allen Schaben, the photojournalist who snapped the iconic photo (above) of Simpson on an L.A. freeway: "As I traveled east on the 91, I saw a TV news truck parked next to the center divider and I figured O.J. must be headed my direction. I jumped out of the car and put a fresh roll of film in my camera while I ran to the TV truck, where the videojournalist allowed me to stand on top his truck as long as i didn't move and shake the truck. Within seconds I see A.J. Cowlings driving the white Ford Bronco with O.J. Simpson laying down in the back seat, driving right toward me. This was the back in the day where you had to manual focus the camera and was super stressed to make sure I had him in focus. I only got about 20 frames from the chase as he passed by. I proceeded to the back yard of O.J.'s Brentwood house, where he turned himself in to LAPD. I proceeded back to the Los Angeles Times to process my film and to my surprise, I was the only staff photographer to get the chase photo. The photo was syndicated around the world and was used in many major publications in addition to the Los Angeles Times."

► Jeffrey Toobin: "I had recently stepped down as a federal prosecutor and joined the New Yorker when the murders took place. It was already a sensation and I wondered how I could find my own angle. Tina brown, my editor, wasn’t interested in my excuses. "There’s no story in New York. Just go to LA." So I did. And I found the defense plan to accuse detective Mark Fuhrman of planting evidence because of his purported racial bias. That scoop launched my career. I spent the next two plus years on the story, covering the ultimate high and low story. It was full of Hollywood gossip but also profound lessons about race in America. I helped create the job of legal analyst with my appearances on 'The Today Show' and 'Larry King Live.' The news business, and my life, have never been the same."

► Bill Carter: "My career crossed over with OJ Simpson over a period of years, never more memorably than when he called me 2 days after the verdict in his trial and offered his views on the most-talked about courtroom event of at least the decade.... I watched the car chase and verdict in The NYT's newsroom. My reactions differed. The car chase made me queasy — was this guy I had spoken to going to shoot himself? — the verdict made me angry. His guilt in a heinous crime seemed definitive to me. That he called me a couple of days later shocked me, but he was going, I believed, partly on the presumption that I knew him a bit and so remembered the charm side of his personality. He also believed I was a fair reporter. The conversation was strange and strained. He sounded different, raw of course and much less concerned with image as he had been before. In the end, I concluded he was a deeply conflicted human being, who learned well how his athletic talent could serve as a facade for whoever —whatever — he really was inside. Who/what that was remained out of my comprehension, though I concluded what he surely was not: the gracious charming guy I had once encountered."

The Drudge Report

CNN Photo Illustration/Courtesy of A24

The 'Civil War' Warning: Where might the spread of dangerous conspiracy theories and political extremism ultimately lead? Alex Garland paints a disturbing picture in "Civil War." The A24 film, which follows a pair of journalists as America is ensnared in a violent — you guessed it — civil war, serves as a giant warning for the country. "Filled with bullets, consuming fires and terrific actors like Kirsten Dunst running for cover, the movie is a what-if nightmare stoked by memories of Jan. 6," The NYT's Manohla Dargis wrote in her review. "As in what if the visions of some rioters had been realized, what if the nation was again broken by Civil War, what if the democratic experiment called America had come undone?" Dargis added, "Rarely have I seen a movie that made me so acutely uncomfortable or watched an actor’s face that, like Dunst’s, expressed a nation’s soul-sickness so vividly that it felt like an X-ray." The Daily Beast's Nick Schager added in his review, "The film resounds as a warning about our vulnerability to autocrats, to fanatics, to violence, and to complacent confidence in the idea that our systems, values and compassionate ideals will carry the day."

► Donie O'Sullivan's take: "The movie is supposed to be a warning, but I think what was most chilling is, I know a lot of folks who might watch it and view it as inspiration."

CNN Photo Illustration/Michael Tran/AFP/Getty Images

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together: After a brief break-up, Taylor Swift and TikTok have made mends. The pop superstar's music is back on the short-form video platform after it was pulled in January as a result of an ongoing dispute her distributor, Universal Music Group, is engaged in with the social media company. How Swift's music found its way back to TikTok isn't entirely clear and spokespeople for all the respective parties have not explained. But, it's possible that Swift, who now owns her own masters, struck a deal with TikTok separate from UMG. No word, though, on when UMG and TikTok might shake off their feud and get back together. CNN's Samantha Murphy Kelly has more here.

🔍 Zooming in: The pact between Swift and TikTok is mutually beneficial. TikTok gets the music library of the world's biggest artist. Meanwhile, Swift will see her music get a big boost from TikTok, just in time for the release next week of her new album, "The Tortured Poets Department." 

CNN Photo Illustration/Paramount Pictures

'Interstellar' in IMAX: October cannot come soon enough! Paramount Pictures announced some stellar news at CinemaCon Thursday, revealing plans to re-release Christopher Nolan's sci-fi masterpiece "Interstellar" in theaters this fall to mark the film's 10-year anniversary. And, it should go without saying that the re-release will, of course, include IMAX 70MM screens, which Nolan shot the 2014 movie specifically for. While Nolan won his first Oscar for "Oppenheimer" this year, there are those who are of the opinion (including, perhaps, yours truly), that he was robbed for not nabbing Best Picture for his work on the space drama. Anyway, I digress! Variety's Brent Lang has all the details here.