The horror, the heartbreak. And that’s just the media coverage.
Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murder in an Orlando courtroom Tuesday.
Anthony was charged with capital murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in a trial that generated a particularly gruesome media storm.
After three years of a drawn out media frenzy, reporters scrambled to interview jurors. CBS and ABC wasted no time announcing “specials” for tonight. Breaking into daytime programming on ABC, George Stephanopolous said “jaws dropped” in the studio when the verdict was announced.
The media contorted itself to cover every disgusting, alarming turn in the story. For many, the coverage became a stream of hideous images to be avoided. For others, it was an addictive titillation.
The “allegedly’s” mounted. The experts parsed. The forensics got even more convoluted. And the media ate it up:
-CNN affiliate WESH-TV in Orlando, offered “a handy calculator for figuring out possible total sentences” depending on whether Anthony is found not guilty or guilty on each of the charges.
-CBS’ “48 Hours Mystery” treated the case as a suspenseful whodunit, even holding a mock trial.
-Omnipresent Nancy Grace has been an unavoidable commentator on various networks, freely dismissing Anthony as “Tot Mom,” and noting she looked like “a snake charmer.” After the verdict, she said on HLN that prosecutors “cannot believe it, that Caylee Anthony’s death has gone unavenged.”
-Belvin Perry Jr., the judge in the case, said the media coverage may dwarf that given to O.J. Simpson.
Earlier in the trial, Anthony’s mother called the media “parasites” and, no matter the verdict, it’s difficult to disagree.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
