Geraldo Rivera courthouse exclusive with Casey Anthony’s lawyer? We can’t wait.
Barbara Walters’ first network sitdown with Anthony’s lawyer? Inevitable.
Charges of “media assassination” from Anthony’s lawyers? Ongoing.
Where do we go from here, and won’t somebody please muzzle Nancy Grace? Here’s hoping.
After Tuesday’s verdict and Thursday’s sentencing, those of us who studiously avoided the Casey Anthony spectacle throughout the three-year ordeal can take stock of what the media obsession with this case ultimately taught.
1. Whenever possible, certain media outlets will find ratings gold in turning a murder case into a national soap opera. More than 5 million people watched HLN on Tuesday as the verdict was read — its best ratings ever.
The promise of ratings is especially bright when the murder victim is a child. As always, that goes double for a cute, white, middle-class toddler who seemingly reflects the best attributes and wishes of the majority of the viewing populace.
2. Passion sells. An analyst who has made up her mind will get a bigger audience than an objective journalist. For that, Grace is on call.
Grace, dubbed “the vigilante host” by a Fox News contributor, strongly backed the prosecution at every turn as she reported the events. Leading HLN’s obsessive, gavel-to-gavel-and- then-some Anthony coverage, she enjoyed a prime-time boost of more than 80 percent in total viewers, to 1.5 million. “HLN’s best prime performance since 9/11” when it scored 2.5 million viewers, the network cheered.
HLN wasn’t the only network to cash in, just the most egregious. The massive television coverage devoted to this case over the past months and years is a shameful reminder that the media love an ongoing melodrama, full of ugly twists and turns and a photogenic victim and villainess.
How many “trial of the century” moments can HLN bank on every few years? The century is young.
3. Murder rates and context bear little interest for an unblinking visual medium. Viewers presumably aren’t moved by the fact that homicide is the fourth leading cause of death among American children ages 1-4, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Or that there were 346 homicides of children ages 1-4 in 2008, according to the CDC. Because of the needs of TV producers, most of their stories weren’t manufactured as national obsessions.
TV producers know that audiences are drawn to graphic storytelling, not faceless statistics. The most visceral stories are those to which the average person on the couch can relate: the sight of a toddler posing for the camera or playing in home videos. A corollary is the “there but for the grace of God” component. The job of being a parent is tough. Millions watching this soap opera/reality show could relate, perhaps unconsciously, in fearful fascination, to the idea of a failed mom.
It’s no surprise that we, a nation of spectators, are more invested in following trials as whodunits than as what they actually are, legal proceedings. The media fuel this urge, even as they dutifully feature such legal experts as Alan Dershowitz warning against it. He calmly explained that our legal system is not in the justice business; it’s about proving guilt beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Is it possible Americans using prime time as a primer on the law might take a breath and realize that our courtrooms — even courtrooms with cameras — deliver legal determinations, not Perry Mason-style justice?
In this case, Dershowitz instructed on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight,” the prosecution simply over- reached. The evidence wasn’t there.
His comments amounted to Law School 101. Unlike the angry, emotional declaration about the “devil dancing” that Grace delivered to Terry Moran on ABC’s “Nightline,” Dershowitz calmly, rationally illuminated the reasons for the surprising outcome.
For those in the audience desperate to latch on to another lengthy soap opera to fill the gap left by the Anthony case, there’s always “CSI.”
Those who saw the Anthony case as the ultimate TV reality show may want to stick to the nonlethal sorts of TV games that come with prizes.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
