The popularity and the media
hype over the Jodi Arias trial was, and still is, astounding. I think the reason for all of this goes back
to the argument Neil Postman was trying to make in his book Amusing Ourselves To Death. We just want to be entertained and this trial
and media spectacle has certainly done it.
I think the media saw the opportunity to get some great ratings and they
took it. They saw a shocking murder,
most likely committed by a pretty girl who looks incapable of such a heinous
crime, and they saw an opportunity to boost some ratings. If this story hadn’t been turned into a 48 Hours Mystery, or if Jodi Arias
hadn’t been interviewed on various gossip shows like Inside Edition, or if the entire trial hadn’t been aired live on television and the internet, how many of us would know this trial was even
going on, let alone all the gory details of the whole thing? The media saw an opportunity to grab the
public’s attention and they took it. The
public saw the bait and most of us grabbed it hook, line, and sinker. The media succeeded in entertaining us with
the whole spectacle and we just kept coming back for more, which only fueled
the fire.
Jodi Arias herself contributed
to this by her own astonishing actions.
She continually changed her story about what happened which kept us
wondering what really did happen? She
continually put her face out there for interviews, which kept drawing attention
to herself and to her story. The more the
public got from this story, the more they wanted of it. We’re a society that thrives on entertainment
and we just couldn’t seem to get enough of the drama.
I agree, the media realize the opportunity they had with this case, they knew that if they made a big deal about it the public would as well. Jodi also helped draw in attention by her crazy explanations and abnormal behavior. Your statement, "We're a society that thrives on entertainment and we just couldn't seem to get enough of the drama," hit the nail on the head, it is the sad truth. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your post. The media saw an opportunity to garner some higher ratings and they took it. Here was a story that they wanted to capitalize on and they did. Jodi also kept putting herself out there to keep the attention on the case and the trial. I agree would we have even known about this story had it not been for all the media attention it received? I highly doubt we would have.
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