Unless you’ve been visiting the moon of Titan for the last few days, you probably know by now that Casey Anthony, accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, was exonerated by a jury of her peers Tuesday. Lots of observers found the verdict shocking, especially Nancy Grace from CNN’s HLN. “The devil is dancing tonight!” she declared after the announcement.
I’m not gonna lie. Like most of America, I suppose, I also thought Casey was guilty, and I was surprised when the verdict came down.
But once the jury found Casey innocent (though they did find her guilty on a few lesser charges), I wasn’t as intrigued by the verdict itself as the phenomenon of the case—and how our tabloid television mindset has really shaped how the whole thing played out on our screens. Writes Eric Deggans of tampabay.com:
Indeed, this was a prosecution made for today's reality TV-bred information culture, from a beautiful defendant and victim, to a supremely dysfunctional family, dramatically bombastic defense attorney and proceedings on camera for all media to savor. No wonder someone created an app for this; thank to acres of newsmagazines and reality shows, the Anthony trial now feels like one long webisode unspooled for the world's entertainment.
The Anthony drama was pitch-perfect television for an early 21st century audience, for both purile and puritanical reasons. There was a touch of Jersey Shore appeal in what we learned of Casey Anthony’s lifestyle—something in it that we were both strangely attracted to and horribly appalled by. And, as details of her life emerged, and as we learned how she lied and lied and lied again, most of us perhaps assumed that she was guilty—an assumption fostered at least in part by the “news” coverage of Nancy Grace (who dismissively called Casey “Tot Mom” and subjected her to months of public inquisition) and others. We turned Casey, intentionally or no, into a celebrity of sorts, but an evil one, and we expected her to be dutifully punished, just as bad’uns almost always get their comeuppance on television’s scripted whodunits.
We wanted this real-life drama to play out like a television show. Alas, real life is far more complex and unpredictable.
In the wake of the verdict, we still see our love of narrative and our fascination with celebrity come through in the coverage.
Casey will likely be free in a “matter of days,” according to Fox News, and could swiftly cash in on her notoriety. Experts say that a news outlet will likely pay her $1 million or more for her first interview—cementing her status as a courtroom celebrity. But there may be an additional price to pay as well.
“Big money will be involved in the deal—millions,” publicist Angie Meyer told Fox. “But those who are upset about the verdict will be upset even more if Casey is awarded a generous sum of money from networks and/or publishers for her story. It’s a disturbing trend we’ve seen trickle down throughout large cases in the past decade. Those organizations that have vilified Casey for the last few years will also be the ones to make her a millionaire.”
And speaking of the vilifying media, many critics are now pointing a finger of blame at television’s most bombastic talking heads, suggesting (not for the first time) that Grace and some of her cohorts did (and do) far more harm than good.
Writes Deggans of Grace, “Is it ethical for a CNN channel to have its coverage led by a pundit who seems so convinced of the defendant’s guilt? And whose coverage was so pointed, it came up during jury selection?” Time’s James Poniewozik suggests that Grace and others downplayed the strength of Casey’s defense, giving viewers the obviously mistaken impression that the case was an open-and-shut matter. He further opines that just because Casey was declared not guilty, Grace shows no signs of backing off. “The verdict may be in,” he writes. “But Nancy Grace’s prosecution is just beginning.”
Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker summed up much of the trial coverage like this: “It’s time to acknowledge once again that in its quest for ratings and ad dollars, TV news does a lousy job of reporting the news, of placing a news story in proper perspective.”
And we, the rapt and anxious viewers, are left without closure—without a satisfying coda to this television drama. Life doesn’t work as we feel it ought sometimes—and Hollywood has taught us to believe it does. The curtain doesn’t fall. The credits don’t roll. Every day ends with these words:
“To be continued.”
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