Greta Van Susteren on why she 'regrets' time spent covering the OJ Simpson trial

The Fox News anchor laments not covering other important events that took place in 1994, like the genocide in Rwanda, and regrets being "consumed in a Hollywood murder."
By Veronica Linares Contact the Author   |   Aug. 15, 2014 at 8:45 AM
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren said on her blog Thursday she had "regret" over the time she spent covering OJ Simpson's murder trial in 1994.

Van Susteren's legal analysis of the trial is arguably the turning point in her career that set her on the path to becoming a well known television personality. But in her blog post she expresses concern over other news coverage opportunities she passed up on, specifically the genocide that took place in Rwanda that same year, because she was "buried in OJ Simpson."

"...Today I was wondering why the media paid so little attention to it. Why do I know so little about it?" the 60-year-old news anchor wrote. "I started digging deeper into the genocide (estimates 500,000 to 1,000,000 slaughtered!) of Rwanda and what hit me like a ton of bricks was the date. It started in April or May of 1994 and went on for many months."

"So....why did I miss it? My head was buried in OJ Simpson. I was too consumed with a Hollywood murder!"

The On The Record host goes on to say that her comments do not mean to take away from the importance of the trial or the people involved in it. Instead she hints the media was irresponsible for spending so much time covering the trial on television and failing to inform viewers about the pressing matters taking place outside of California in 1994.

"I can still recite dates and times about the OJ Simpson case but, until I started my new study about the genocide in Rwanda, all I could do was tell you 'yes, there was genocide in Rwanda.' That's all. That's pitiful."

"So...that's why you probably don't know much about it since all we talked about in the media and showed you was a trial in California," she wrote.

The genocide in Rwanda occurred during an already years-long civil war between the Hutu-controlled government and the mostly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front. Over about 100 days beginning in April 1994, it is estimated between 500,000 and 1 million Rwandans were killed, mostly Tutsi and moderate Hutu.

Van Susteren's involvement in CNN's legal analysis of the 1994 trial eventually lead to her gig as co-host in the network's Burden of Proof and The Point. She eventually switched over to Fox News channel in 2002 and has been hosting the current affairs show On the Record with Greta Van Susteren ever since.

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