Casey Anthony was just found not guilty of serious crimes related to the death of her young child. The physical evidence linking Anthony’s involvement in the disappearance of her daughter was dubious, but many “felt” that she was responsible. Ultimately, Anthony was found guilty of lesser charges of lying to law enforcement.
As the live video feed displayed Anthony crying and then smiling after the verdict, many were felt unsettled. The facts point towards Anthony. Her actions and behavior made many feel that she is guilty.
I’m concerned about this case, but not because of the facts. I’m concerned about what is happening around Casey Anthony’s court room saga.
The hype around this case is disgusting. The speculation, coverage, and conjecture are indicative of what kind of culture we have become. Some have even compared the coverage to OJ’s trial in the 90′s. Remember how the OJ trial dominated the news?
Casey Anthony was found not guilty of killing her daughter, but we were found guilty. We are guilty of feeding the media machine of what constitutes as news. Reports came out that people even made the courtroom of the Anthony case a vacation destination! Get a grip people! The 24/7 news cycle covered the case to the point of reporting what Anthony was wearing each day of the trial.
The interest and speculation in this case is saddening. People spent hours waiting in line to get a seat in the courtroom. Fights broke out at the courthouse as people struggled to get ahead in line. As the story became more and more bizarre, the media covered the story even deeper. And America ate it up. Where were the likes of moral bulwarks encouraging people to turn off their televisions? Where was the call to stop feeding our need to be entertained by agony?
Our culture is guilty of being entertained by the story of the death of a little girl and her dysfunctional family. And we let it happen. When will we stop the behavior of allowing a case like this to take over and entertain us through television, internet, and radio? How could we better spend our time? We could be volunteering, serving our community, or spending more time with our families.
Let’s stop feeding the machine and start bettering ourselves and our communities.
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