Travellers’ Blog Entry No. 27

The "Pre-Election time" forces us to watch many TV. Most of the time we watch CNN to follow the coverage of Barack Obama's and John McCain's campaigns.

But there is not only the candidate's TV spots, the expert's interviews and the coverage of the rallies. Another topic, which is broadcasted very much is the missing 3-years-old girl Caylee in Orlando, Florida.

CNN spends around 7 minutes with this issue during their "headline news" and "breaking news" and has got additionally, a TV format which is called "Nancy Grace". Nancy Grace is the host of this program. She interviews experts, for example the lawyer of the family. The issue of the missing girl is causing much attention, because the 26-year-old mother of Cayleen is suspected to had killed her daughter for no reasons. The mother, Casey Anthony, was arrested, after she had lied to the police many times and built a net of lies.

Nancy Grace does not only do the coverage the case, but she gets telephone calls of the viewers during the show, who can ask questions, tell their opinon an suspects to the issue.
Additionally there is a weblog of the broadcast, where the viewers can post comments and hints to where Caylee might be.
There are many scenes from the court, where Casey Anthony rejected to help solving the case and she refused to tell something which might help finding her daughter.

During the show headlines run through the lower half of the screen saying: "Death penalty for tot mom" and "Tot Mom: I'm innocent, police won't break me", "Caylee poisoned with Chlorophorm" - very up to the point and maybe wrong.
Many pictures of missing Caylee are shown, mixed with photos of the suspected mom Casey.

"Nancy Grace" is a TV format which will never exist in Germany. It is too public for the German laws, which say, that a suspected person can only find guilty, if a court does judge him or her. It would never be allowed to involve the pubic so much like it is done in the "Nance Grace" format.

"Nancy Grace" goes very far: The host yells at "experts" which mark that there are barely no proofs which can proof Casey Anthony as the murderer of the little girl.
Her tone gets ironically and angry, she is holding up some papers, which should be copies of "secret documents" of the court.

One time she argued with the lawyers of the mother of the little girl. "I want to know the truth! I want to see this mother in jail for what she did to her little girl!", she claimed very loud. She listed proof of why to find the client Casey Anthony guilty - and the lawyer just did not know what to say and started yelling at Nancy Grace, too until the theme music and a slide show of Caylee pictures interrupted the "interview".

All in all, Nancy Grace is a great host, she really got me and I watched the "news format" until the end. But is it ok to broadcast a 90 minutes show about a missing girl, whose mother is supected to be the murderer? The general assuming that the mother is guilty and Nacy Grace' character and way of hosting the show, let me think of a angry mob of people hundred years ago, when self-justice was practised.
Maybe, this TV format is exactly what the American people want to see and Nancy Grace just speaks out what they are thinking and what they want to hear.

I did not find any numbers of now many people are watching this show, but after 20 weeks of searching for Caylee "Nancy Grace" still has 90 minutes of broadcasting time in the early evening on CNN - the interest in this show must be there.