Can we please stop the exploitation?

What's been on Nancy Grace virtually every day since around July? The Caylee Anthony case. Who has this benefited? Nancy Grace, primarily, who can now thank this poor dead girl for half a year's salary. Who else? The pathetic advertisers who buy her spots, capitalizing on this bizarre tragedy.

Anyone else? What about the viewers? Are they really benefiting? Depends on your definition of "benefiting", I suppose. Personally, I think that Nancy Grace's brand of media saturation encourages a morbid fascination for the case which can't possibly be psychologically healthy.

So, anyone else? Oh, yeah, Casey Anthony, who is quite likely narcissistic and thoroughly enjoying all of the attention. Case in point: Video of her being transported to jail from court (or vice versa, I can't remember) shows her in a "Find Caylee" t-shirt - that has been knotted on the side at her waist. This is something teenage girls do so that t-shirts can be more flattering to their figures. Why would she do this? To be TV ready, or to look cute for the guards? Hmmm... I saw that back in August or September and thought that this is a woman who needs be deprived of media attention, not showered with it.

What about injury? Anyone being injured by this? Well, all of the viewers, in my opinion, as I've already said. But who else? Caylee Anthony's grandparents, who were basically shoved into the spotlight because of their role in the discovery and reporting of their missing granddaughter. Have THEY been compensated for their role on Nancy Grace? They have been completely exploited, as has their murdered granddaughter, receiving no compensation while Nancy Grace, her advertisers, and her network all profit. Can they really claim they are just reporting the news, when they dramatize it and loop it to the point that they do? They're not just reporting the news. They are using the characters from this real-life tragedy to construct an ongoing serial drama, without paying the actors. Why are they getting away with this?

Not only are the grandparents being exploited, they are being personally injured. The nature of Nancy Grace's media attention has brought fanatics to their doorstep to harass them. They have no peace. They are dealing with the death of their granddaughter, by the hands of her own mother, their daughter, and are completely unable to deal with it privately. The result? Just this morning, there is a report that Caylee's grandfather George is now hospitalized because he is suicidal. Does Nancy Grace feel at all responsible? I doubt it. But she should.

Are any of the profits being diverted towards efforts to prevent another Caylee Anthony case from emerging in our society? What good does this continuous media coverage do for our society? If anything, it encourages another narcissistic mother who is tired of her kid to behave like Casey Anthony did, in order to garner the media attention that Casey has gotten.

What about poor Caylee Anthony, whose image and story are being used for profit? Is this really any way to respect this little girl's memory?

The craziest thing is that for all of the media time devoted to this case, very little of it has been what could be called "productive". Where are the truly thoughtful, knowledgeable sociologists and psychologists, to help us understand the factors that may have led Casey to do this to her daughter? What about a focus on outreach, that uses media exposure to highlight services that might be available to parents who are struggling with raising their children, whether for psychological or economic reasons? Where's all of that business? Haven't seen much. I certainly wouldn't be calling for a boycott of Nancy Grace if she took this tragedy and used it to do good in Florida, where children face greater danger death by child abuse than in many other parts of the United States. How do I know this? Check out this report: http://www.childdeathreview.org/reports/FL_2007CADRrpt.pdf - 1,460 children died nationally from child abuse in 2007, and 171 of these deaths took place in Florida. If spread out proportionately between the states, each state would have about 29 child abuse deaths. Almost 12% of child abuse deaths occur in Florida. And here, we are only talking about reported, confirmed child abuse deaths. Florida also has high rates of child abuse cases that don't result in death, as well as sexual abuse cases.

What's going on in Florida? Wouldn't that be a much better focus? What if Nancy Grace became a national outlet for advocacy networks, getting information out like Florida's law enforcement tries to do with publications like this one: http://www.fightcrime.org/reports/CANstate2pager/flCAN.pdf? To me, this seems like a much more respectful, productive way to expound upon the tragedy of Caylee's death.

PLEASE BOYCOTT NANCY GRACE. FOREVER. Once the Casey Anthony case eventually dies down, Nancy will find another tragedy to latch onto and exploit for her own personal gain. ONLY YOU CAN STOP HER, by not watching. DO IT FOR CAYLEE.

Then, if you still want to do more, volunteer at a local child abuse outreach program of some sort. This is really the only way to respect Caylee's memory without rewarding her killer or punishing/exploiting the rest of her family. And as a byproduct of your concern, perhaps another child will be saved.

PEACE.