Casey Anthony: Why the case continues to generate interest - Hal

by mom_in_il Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:54 pm

Casey Anthony: Why the case continues to generate interest
posted by halboedeker on March, 14 2011 10:27 AM

I heard from some readers after my interview last week with Scot Safon, executive vice president of HLN. He oversees the channel that has devoted many hours to the case of Casey Anthony, who is accused of first-degree murder in the death of her daughter Caylee. Safon also oversees “In Session,” which will provide pool coverage of the trial and airs on truTV.

Safon discussed why he thinks the case has generated such intense interest. He told me: “It speaks to so many issues, to the responsibility parents have, to the responsibility grandparents have, to the vulnerability of children, to the fact that this could play out in the midst of what might seem a normal family. I think a lot of people find it relatable. They know people like the people in this story, grandparents like the Anthonys, women like Casey, children like Caylee.”

Some readers objected to the idea that people could relate to the Anthonys.

And yet I hear from many readers who discuss the case in terms of family, their grief for Caylee and their bafflement that the toddler’s family didn’t do more for her. Aren’t family issues central to continuing interest in the case? Grandparents George and Cindy Anthony’s TV appearances added to the fascination. What do you think?

The defense being mounted for Anthony is another factor driving interest in the case. For example, WFTV-Channel 9’s Ryan Hughes last night reported on defense attorney Cheney Mason’s questioning of Gary Utz, the Orange County deputy chief medical examiner. In a deposition, Mason asked, “There’s no evidence of any trauma whatsoever on the body is there?”

Utz had examined the toddler’s remains when they were found in late 2008. Utz replied: “To my knowledge, there’s no evidence of trauma. Most of the body is gone. There could easily have been a fatal trauma that’s obscured by the fact the tissue is gone.”

Anchor Josh Benson added, “The new discovery papers that were just released state that Caylee’s remains could have turned to just bones in as early as a week’s time.”

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/03/casey-anthony-why-the-case-continues-to-generate-interest.html