(Image source: Orlando Sentinel)

BY ALLIE SPILLYARDS

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

You're watching multisource U.S. news analysis from Newsy.

Unless you live under a rock-- you’ve probably heard.

The verdict is in and Florida mom Casey Anthony walked -- acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges. Now the media look back at the trial coverage and try to answer....

“Why this case? Why now? Why her?” (CNN)

From 24 hour coverage-- to expert interviews-- to 2 hour cable specials-- the media couldn’t get enough.

“Smiles, hugs, tears, joy all around at the defense table.” (Fox News)

“The jury acquitted of not just first degree murder, but all murder charges, all manslaughter charges, even the simple charge of child abuse.” (MSNBC)

“Casey Anthony’s shocking and mind boggling behavior over those 31 days.” (CNN)

So why did the trial get so much attention? A writer for New York Daily News suggests...

“The case had everything Hollywood could offer. A pretty defendant charged with a horrific crime. An upstart defense attorney with a hardscrabble background facing what seemed like an unwinnable case. A sharp prosecution team. And Judge Belvin Perry Jr., who gave a courtroom observer six days in the clink for giving the prosecutor the finger. Court cases worthy of live TV are rare indeed.”

But an op-ed writer for Blue Ridge Now asks a different question- How newsworthy was the trial?

“We watch the talking heads on TV who do their very best to inflame our passions in order to get us to remain tuned to their station or network. It is clear that these aren’t news programs. They are simply entertainment shows that are only rewarded if they attract viewers. Why do you think they keep their computer and phone lines open for viewers to let them know what they think?”

And Newsweek columnist Diane Dimond agrees. She tells a panel on CNN’s Reliable Sources- the media can’t be grouped as one entity -- news should be news.

“We label soup cans in this country, yet we don’t label the people who are giving the public information. I am an objective journalist. I write a syndicated column where I take off that hat, and give my opinion but I’m a trained journalist. And other people who have programs out there that network executives put in as the voices of authority are not the voices of authority. Many of them are biased. Many of them do taint cases.”

And putting Anthony’s trial in perspective -- this reflection from the Florida Times-Union’s Mark Woods.

“Several hours after Atlantis lifted off, as four astronauts headed into space, that story had disappeared from the list of what people were reading on our website. And Casey Anthony was still there.”

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