Scot Safon Interview…

The Orlando Sentinel’s Hal Boedeker interviews HLN’s Scot Safon…

How big a deal will the Anthony trial be for HLN?

“It’s a gigantic deal for us. It’s a case that has been very important to our audiences since the early developments in the case. Nancy Grace has done a ton of coverage. It really strikes a chord with people who watch us. We get active audience feedback. It’s true across the country. It’s not a regional-interest story.”

What about this case strikes a chord?

“It speaks to so many issues, to the responsibility parents have, to the responsibility grandparents have, to the vulnerability of children, to the fact that this could play out in the midst of what might seem a normal family. I think a lot of people find it relatable. They know people like the people in this story, grandparents like the Anthonys, women like Casey, children like Caylee.

“A lot of stories happen like this, but this one just seems to capture a lot of those fundamental things. It seems so extreme on some levels, but some people go, ‘My sister is like that.’ Even if you’re not identifying with Casey Anthony, you know somebody like that in your life. Based on what we hear, the audience says it’s outraged, but there’s an undertone of identification with the anxieties that a story like this points out. You want your children to be safe. You want to know what kind of behaviors you want to blow the whistle on.”

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