The Media and Public Opinion

          Casey Anthony. Caylee Anthony. George Anthony. Cindy Anthony. For many months after this sad story began and during the months of the Casey Anthony murder trial and afterwards, most of us could not avoid hearing about this Florida case. We saw numerous party photos of Casey, supposedly taken at or around her daughter's tragic death, as well as that well-known videotaped expression of her anger and frustration at her own situation. We were flooded with pictures of little Caylee, including one which was taken close to the time of her disappearance, where she was babbling to her grandfather, "Are you tired?" It seemed almost sadistic of the media to keep showing pics of a child whom they believed was murdered. "Why not more pics of still-missing children?" I'd wonder.
We saw all the photos of this beautiful little toddler with her large dark, shining eyes, her dark curly hair and her big smile. For months and months during this case, jounalists and talk show hosts, especially on CNN and its affiliate, HLN, would go on and on over Casey's "dark heart," her "sociopathic character" and her "evil ways." We were reminded continually, as if we needed such reminding, that little Caylee was a beautiful, precious, innocent child and that "someone needs to be punished for what has happened to her." Even when many other children, teens and adults when missing or were found deceased during these many months, we continually heard about the Anthony's. George and Cindy, instead of being treated with empathy and sensitivity in light of their nightmare of the death of their granddaughter and the possible loss of their daughter to life in prison or to the death penalty, were also attacked. They were castigated and discredited as accomplices and enablers in the death of their granddaughter, in the efforts to protect their daughter. I would get frustrated over hearing about this one case, to the exclusion of so many other that were just as important and as compelling.
          Throughout Casey's murder trial and after her acquittal of all charges of murder and child abuse, I saw and read what I saw as self-righteous anger, even rage, at Casey, as well as at the jurors in her case and at her lawyers. I found it rather hypocritical that so many who insisted that Casey was a child murderer (even though the jury in her case had said there was no evidence of that) were screaming for a federal investigation of of Casey and even of the jurors and petitions were being circulated. When she was stll serving time in jail for lying to police, Casey would receive death threats in jail. What? Do we fight crime with crimes of our own? It is the same principal at work when "anti-abortionists" issue death threats to abortionists and their workplaces, or bomb them.
          I think that so much of the anger, judgment and rage at the Anthony's can be traced to the media, which had been relentless in judging and discrediting the Anthony's, trashing Casey and going on and on about this one case, declaring that Casey was guilty. This was one case where the "presumption of innocence before being proved guilty" seemed to not apply, for Casey was treated as a convicted child killer well before her trial and after her acquittal, so many cried, "Justice Denied!" and "She has gotten by with murder!" A Florida lady, who was said to look like Casey, was physically assaulted. And among those within my own family, there have been declarations that ,"She killed her kid! She killed her kid!" I wonder if the media realize the tremendous power that they have in determining the shape that public opinion takes on not only what they do cover, but on lack of awareness about what they don't cover. The media have the eyes and ears of millions of people sitting in front of TV sets, listening to radio, reading their literature and networking with them through social media. In this one Anthony's case, they have used their infuence to ruin the reputations of the Anthony's, so that after her acquittal, Casey's mom and dad expressed a fear of their daughter re-locating to her Florida home after her re-lease from jail. Though Casey is out of jail now, she has to disguise her appearance and live underground, as an unidentified person in fear of her own safety.
          Yes, I know that Casey's conduct during the entire case after her arrest, has been dishonest and and evasive. And I know that many of her party pics have been unsavory, especially a certain pic taken of her during a public urination. But do we know for sure that all these pics were taken at or around the time of her daughter's death? And as for the "smell of a dead body in the damn car," do we really know the story behind that, or if Caylee's body was being transported following a tragic accident? All of the other things that were so often interpreted by the public as "evidence," could also be disproved. Casey may have been many things but it does not follow that she is also a cold-blooded child killer. Yes, like most people, I can't get around the fact that it took over 30 days for Caylee to be reported as "missing" and by her grandparents. I have little doubt that Casey is responsible for her child's death if only by neglect, but that is not, in the eyes of the law, the same thing as murder. The point is, our strong feelings about this case have been stirred up and inflamed by the media, as very few of us have met either Casey or Caylee. Our feelings about this case, like so many other sensationalized cases, are generated by what the media feed us. But then, when we say that, the media will argue, "We are only giving you what you want." For isn't it true that we crave to be entertained with problems and real-life soap operas that "take our minds off our own troubles"?
          Caylee was not, by any means, the only child whose life was cut short in 2008 or afterwards. I have followed the cases of other children whose murders were proved because of evidence or killer's confessions, but there has been much less outrage over them because of lack of awareness. Why? Because they have had little or no media coverage. A few years ago, there was the sad case of the Gary, Indiana case of 2-year-old Jada Justice, who was said to have been burned to death. I never hear about her. There is the case of 4-year-old Marc Anthony Bookal, who supposedly "wandered off" one day, but whose poor little body was found in a duffle bag months later and later indentified as his. Again, there is little public outrage over this and that is because of the lack of awareness. Those missing people/victims who do get covered are usually covered briefly and sporadically. Media coverage isn't everything, and there are many things that do not belong in the public domain. But there are some things that are everyone's business. Media coverage shapes public opinion and does much to get us to either care or not care about issues or cases.
          We can be thankful to the media when they do select missing/murdered persons cases and other important social issues of the day, for coverage, even when they tend to pick stories that they can sensationalize. But the media, in all venues, have the potential of doing so much more that would actually serve and not just entertain, the public. What about a 24-hour regular TV Channel devoted to solving crimes ans bringing missing people home? What about a 24-hour regular TV Channel devoted To Health issues? These channels would save lives. Yes, these would take planning, working together and money. But we can do this.
          After all, as it is often said, no person is more valuable than another and God loves each person the same.