Image via WikipediaEvery now and then my wife will pick up a copy of People magazine. The other day as I was puttering around the house I saw a recent edition on the table. On the cover was Casey Anthony, currently on trial for the murder of her daughter Caylee.
Seeing that particular cover got me to wondering why this particular trial is garnering so much national attention. Any time a child is murdered or harmed it is heartbreaking. It is more disturbing when the person accused of the crime is a parent.
I have not been following the trial, but I have caught snippets on the news here and there. How could you not? Every day there seems to be coverage of the trial. There have been the stories of the crowds of people waiting to get into the courtroom to view the proceedings. The Today Show have had reports nearly every day. It has been the subject of magazine and tabloid covers.
Here in the DC area, there have been multiple cases of local missing children. There have been those where the mother reported the child missing, made pleas on local television, only to later be discovered to have murdered the child. There have been other cases where the parents were going through a divorce and one parent murders the children. None have risen to the national interest as the Anthony trial.
Sadly, these kinds of crimes happen all too often. Most of them end up getting some attention on local news, but don't get national coverage. What is it about the Anthony trial that makes it as some news broadcasts have described as being the biggest since the OJ Simpson murder trial? I understood the interest in the OJ Simpson murder trial. Simpson was a well know, loved, national sports celebrity. Casey Anthony was a young single mother who wasn't on anybody's radar.
Seeing that particular cover got me to wondering why this particular trial is garnering so much national attention. Any time a child is murdered or harmed it is heartbreaking. It is more disturbing when the person accused of the crime is a parent.
I have not been following the trial, but I have caught snippets on the news here and there. How could you not? Every day there seems to be coverage of the trial. There have been the stories of the crowds of people waiting to get into the courtroom to view the proceedings. The Today Show have had reports nearly every day. It has been the subject of magazine and tabloid covers.
Here in the DC area, there have been multiple cases of local missing children. There have been those where the mother reported the child missing, made pleas on local television, only to later be discovered to have murdered the child. There have been other cases where the parents were going through a divorce and one parent murders the children. None have risen to the national interest as the Anthony trial.
Sadly, these kinds of crimes happen all too often. Most of them end up getting some attention on local news, but don't get national coverage. What is it about the Anthony trial that makes it as some news broadcasts have described as being the biggest since the OJ Simpson murder trial? I understood the interest in the OJ Simpson murder trial. Simpson was a well know, loved, national sports celebrity. Casey Anthony was a young single mother who wasn't on anybody's radar.
The story of this family has many twists and turns . . . and I guess society in general loves to observe a train wreck.
ReplyDeleteA writer could not have written a better script about a dysfunctional family. Such a sad story . . .
well if that was not that the asshole(alledged)serial killer anthony sowell here in cleveland would be.
ReplyDeleteThis is a microcosm of society today. The freaks are watching caus they're freaks...
ReplyDeleteAnd the rest of us are tuning in cause we're scared that society has waded into Gomorrah.
You are right there, Gina.
ReplyDelete