Casey Anthony Overkill…
The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz expresses many of the same feelings I’ve had about the media circus surrounding the Casey Anthony trial…
Such trials are the spawn of O.J., whose murder case dominated the media in the mid-1990s. But Simpson was a world-famous athlete. Chandra Levy at least worked for a member of Congress. Since then, television news has tried to fill the void by taking unknown victims and defendants—Laci Peterson, Natalee Holloway—and turning them into cause celebres so that viewers would develop a rooting interest in the players and the subplots.
I find it sickening, which is why I’ve largely avoided writing or talking about the Anthony case until now. Like many of those who even casually followed the story, I thought she was probably guilty. But I never understood why I should care about this murder above so many others. Let’s be honest with ourselves: this is the exploitation of tragedy until it becomes entertainment. And that’s why the situation is even worse than the indictment by Anthony’s lawyer would suggest.
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July 5, 2011 at 9:08 pm
Kurtz states the obvious weeks after everyone else. Again.
July 5, 2011 at 9:28 pm
“Next up, some say the mainstream media is ‘in the tank’ for Obama. We’ll investigate.”
July 5, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Eh, it’s not like he could have stopped that train, anyway. It’s a perpetual cycle. The press randomly grabs a story of no consequence to any of our lives, flogs it without mercy, and then steps back and says “Why did we do that?”.
July 5, 2011 at 10:42 pm
DC sniper. That was one of the first Big News Stories where I tuned-out, because it was all total speculation. They talked about that thing for weeks, and they were all totally wrong. I think there was one guy who predicted that it would be a disaffected minority who was doing it, and he was called all sorts of names for saying it.
Now, that story had some significance because it was ongoing, but the coverage was total BS. Not sure what that has to do with this, but there ya go.
July 5, 2011 at 11:55 pm
Wait..did Spud really put “overkill” in a post about a murder trial? Dude..
July 6, 2011 at 12:20 am
^Am I a bad person if I laughed at that?
July 6, 2011 at 4:44 am
Make room for both of us in that handcart to hell, jackyboy!
July 6, 2011 at 7:35 am
I think the real lesson from the trial (and by “real lesson” I mean what we can all take away from it… not the result, or what the lawyers should do differently… that’s their problem, not ours) is how invested and involved virtually all the media was in predicting this outcome.
I’m very surprised at the verdict, but not because I know anything about the case (I don’t), but because of how confident every single news story was in the guilt of Ms. Anthony. IMO, the media really jumped the gun on this one, and has made themselves and the justice system look foolish as a result.
(Also posted at J$)
July 6, 2011 at 8:03 am
Just another example of how what’s ‘said’ on cable news is taken as ‘fact’ without any real evidence. I’m willing to bet the majority of those mad about the verdict got their ‘trial coverage’ from cable news recaps. Because anyone that watched the entire trial such as myself should be saying the prosecution failed to prove their case and thought ‘emotion alone’ would illicit a guilty verdict.
You might recall Linda Drane Burdick was very meticulous about what Casey Anthony was doing EXCEPT when the murder/accident occurred. They completely glossed over this fact along with changing ‘murder weapons’ mid trial.
As Johnny $ said, the jury doesn’t really ‘need’ a motive but that didn’t stop the prosecution from saying she got rid of Caley to live the good life and party. Hello? She was already doing that while having a child. And of course the ‘zero’ evidence of her ever being abusive along with no bone evidence of prior fractures was more doubt for the jury to ponder.
I do understand how the same people can want justice for Caylee. But, do you think Caylee would want her mom going to the ‘chair’ or spending 30 years if it indeed was an accident? Sure, disposing of the body (whether it was Casey or George) was a stupid thing to do. However, why didn’t they charge her with improper disposal of a body? I believe they could’ve had a guilty verdict on that one.
IIRC, if the State had used a grand jury indictment on the lying charges it would’ve been third degree felonies and translated to a max X4 = 20 years. Yet another blunder?
As I said in the other thread, I believe this was either an accident or Casey Anthony snapped and murdered her child. But, the latter still wouldn’t be first degree murder and no evidence was presented that showed she has the tendency to act violent towards her child or anyone else for that matter.
I see VIVID has made an offer for a little adult entertainment just like I predicted. IMO, she should partake in the book and movie and use the ‘flick’ as a last resort. Because getting naked will turn a lot of people off from buying your wares.
July 6, 2011 at 8:10 am
@rainnwilson Dear Florida, THANK YOU for freeing Casey! She’s now available for partying and babysitting!
July 6, 2011 at 8:16 am
“Just another example of how what’s ‘said’ on cable news is taken as ‘fact’ without any real evidence. I’m willing to bet the majority of those mad about the verdict got their ‘trial coverage’ from cable news recaps.”
Probably so, but not all cable news recaps were the sort of vigilante cheerleading exemplified by Nancy Grace, even though her style did attract a sizable audience.
July 6, 2011 at 8:54 am
Most of my knowledge of the case stemmed from not changing the channel when MSNBC reported on it. They did not cover it extensively, and certainly not from a “vigilante” POV. I assumed she was guilty based on her bizarre behavior, the 911 call about a “death smell”, and what I interpreted as a haphazard defense that cooked up a drowning theory at the last minute.
I do think the cable talking heads I encountered encouraged me to think the defense was crap. I didn’t take into account that the prosecution had even less of a clue how Caylee died that what the defense was claiming.
July 6, 2011 at 9:05 am
Probably so, but not all cable news recaps were the sort of vigilante cheerleading exemplified by Nancy Grace, even though her style did attract a sizable audience.
I haven’t watched any cable news coverage of the trial until last night because I’m in the Orlando market and have many local channels but prefer Fox 35 (O&O).. Which also featured the ‘fair’ reporting from Geraldo. You might be interested to know as well I caught a little bit of Hannity & Greta last night. Both of them seemed to be right on target with my way of thinking and the polar opposite of that Nancy Grace woman. Its no wonder she gets ratings because her program is mostly a freak show and all she does is cut people off.
I do think the cable talking heads I encountered encouraged me to think the defense was crap. I didn’t take into account that the prosecution had even less of a clue how Caylee died that what the defense was claiming.
Good point. The defense had the photo of Caylee opening the sliding door along with basically climbing the pool ladder by herself. The prosecution? Trust us, she’s guilty due to the fact she’s ‘loose’ and likes to party and get tattoo’s.
July 6, 2011 at 9:09 am
The prosecution was arrogant, and thought that the ‘optics’ would sufficiently offend the jury. Maybe they forgot that the jury wasn’t watching it on the news.
July 6, 2011 at 10:23 am
Can we now agree to have a moratorium on all scandals and crimes committed by anyone with “Anthony” in their name?
July 6, 2011 at 10:26 am
Show name: Anthony & Anthony or Casey’s Weiner.
July 6, 2011 at 10:37 am
Can we now agree to have a moratorium on all scandals and crimes committed by anyone with “Anthony” in their name?
Will have to wait and see if the professionals in the State Attorney’s office decide to charge George Anthony with the murder, eh?
Show name: Anthony & Anthony or Casey’s Weiner.
hahahahaha
July 6, 2011 at 10:49 am
It’s the perfect marriage of form and function.
July 6, 2011 at 6:19 pm
Anthony + nice chest = cable news delirium.
I figured some other idiot would throw this in first, but apparently it’s my turn for the dirty work. You’re welcome..move along folks..
July 6, 2011 at 6:25 pm
It’s Girls Gone Wild, CSI-version.