The disappearance and death of all children do not get the widespread media attention that Caylee Anthony’s case has received. The media, and public as a whole, have been practically entranced from the beginning by every lie the girl’s mother, Casey Anthony, told, every move the entire Anthony family made, and every detail that has been leaked about the first degree murder trial.
Has the media gone too far with the Casey Anthony case? Please share your thoughts.
With Casey Anthony’s trial in its third week, this attention has done nothing but increase both offline and online. Blogs, websites, Facebook and Twitter pages have all been created in regards to the case, and since the trial is being live streamed, Facebook and Twitter posts are being published continuously.
Here are a couple of examples of what’s being said on Twitter:
With these types of opinions spreading online, how can they keep from getting into the courtroom? Persuasive communications expert Juliet Huck told us that it would be very difficult to keep the online influences away from the courtroom.
“When you’ve had a case this long, which we’ve seen in the past, to have been so publicized, and now with more technology than ever before, it is very, very difficult, I think, to get a clean trial,” she said.
As Huck explained, the combination of audio and visual factors is the most important part of persuasive communications. It “builds up the retention level.” She went on to say that, instead of the traditional 12 jurors discussing the case, there are 12 thousand or 12 million people making up an online jury to debate the case.
We’ve seen technology and social media influence society both in professional and personal areas, but this case, in particular, indicates that it is influencing our legal system as well. I think it’s clear that social media is here to stay, but does that mean that justice can’t be served going forward?
“I think technology’s going to play a very, very important part in persuasion into the courtroom,” said Huck.
She also pointed out that “public opinion is not part of the law.” However, with high profile cases such as the Casey Anthony trial, it will definitely be a challenge to make that separation.
Is social media impacting our legal system for the good or the bad?