I have been spending the past week at the beach, and I have been thinking about the Casey Anthony trial recently. Now that the initial hoopla over the not guilty verdict has somewhat calmed down, I thought I would express some of my opinions on this case.
1. Why so much interest in this case? Was the death of a 2 year old child tragic? Sure. Was it as nationally newsworthy, and more specifically, should it have drawn the attention it did? Hardly. Did you know that 22,000 children die each day, according to the World Health Organization? Not many from murder or accidental deaths, but mostly from starvation. Why doesn’t our news media spend as much time talking about those deaths as they did about Caylee Anthony?
2. Why are Americans so gullible in believing that what they see and hear from True Crime shows is in fact the truth? The American news media, and in particular “true crime” shows such as America’s Most Wanted and Nancy Grace, make tons of money sensationalizing local crimes. According to a May 2011 New York Times article on Nancy Grace, “TV Justice Thrives on Fear” Grace her crew play fast and hard with the facts:
Ms. Grace, a former prosecutor in Atlanta who was reprimanded for stepping over a line more than once, obliterates lines every night on “Nancy Grace.” Working with a contingent of experts who have all the independence of a crew of trained seals, Ms. Grace races toward judgment, heedlessly ignoring nuance and evidence on her way to finding guilt.
Nancy Grace, of course, absolutely knew that Casey Anthony was guilty, and Nancy is always right. Right?
