The Truth Will Set Them Free
Injustice in Perugia
A site detailing the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox & Raffaele Sollecito
Media Coverage
Links
Media coverage of this case played a major role in the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. Amanda was mistreated horribly by the media. The media took hold of this story and the disparaging headlines about Amanda were endless. These headlines were seen all around the world long before any evidence was even collected. With the help of the media, prosecutor Giuliano Mignini's fictional character, the satanic ritualistic sex crazed killer, Foxy Knoxy was born. As we would all later find out, Foxy Knoxy was not a sex crazed killer after all. She was a sweet innocent eight year old soccer player. Amanda Knox was given the nickname as a child for her sly moves on the soccer field. By the time the world found out who the real Foxy Knoxy was, it was too late. The damage was done.
As expected, the media coverage was the strongest in the US, the UK, and Italy. Meredith Kercher traveled from South London to Perugia for her studies and Amanda Knox traveled from the US. Raffaele Sollecito is an Italian citizen.
Amanda Knox became an obsession in Italy. Amanda Knox was named one of the top newsmakers of 2008 by countless Italian news organizations, alongside U.S. President-elect Barack Obama. It was not simply the fact that Amanda was receiving media attention, it was the amount of negative attention she received. The press declared Amanda Knox “a devil with an angel’s face”. She was called a she-devil, a diabolical person focused on sex, drugs and alcohol. Her myspace page was dissected. Photos that would be normally found on any twenty year old's myspace account were looked at as sexual. A picture of her laughing while handling a machine-gun in a museum during a vacation with her sister was used to show Amanda as being a violent and unstable woman.
Lead investigator Edgardo Giobbi publicly stated that his suspicions were raised just hours after the murder when he saw Amanda at the crime scene swivel her hips as she put on a pair of shoe covers. These observations were simply ridiculous. Amanda was considered guilty by the lead investigator before a single piece of evidence was even collected. The media frenzy was fueled be the prosecution's office, led by Giuliano Mignini.
There was a series of lies leaked to the media shortly after Meredith's death. These lies were leaked for the sole purpose of destroying the credibility of Amanda Knox. Raffaele was almost totally ignored. Amanda was the target of most of these leaks. The prosecution successfully used the media to assassinate the character of Amanda Knox.
Amanda never stood a chance. She was found guilty in the court of public opinion long before her trial ever began.
Judge Francesco Cananzi, a representative of the national council of magistrates, publicly had this to say: "Here in Italy trials take place on TV, rather than in court."
Amanda Knox's lawyers have been outspoken about the abuse that Amanda has received in the media. Carlo dalla Vedova and Luciano Ghirga said Knox had come under "incredible and misleading'' media scrutiny that they said was ''in violation of the general principles that safeguard personal information and dignity. The media has done everything in its power to create an absolutely negative portrayal of Knox''
Amanda Knox had absolutely no history of violence in her past. Amanda excelled in her studies. She was named to the University of Washington's dean's list. Amanda worked several jobs as a student to save the money needed to participate in the study-abroad program in Italy.
Why was the media so quick to turn against Amanda Knox, long before any evidence was even collected?
Amanda Knox was irresistible to the press. Her story had everything they wanted. Amanda Knox was a profitable headline. Raffaele Sollecito was virtually ignored. Why? Because Raffaele was boring. The obsession with Amanda and the lack of attention given to Raffaele, exposed the true intentions of the press. After all, Raffaele was being accused of the same crime, but every headline focused on Amanda Knox. Why? Because headlines depicting a beautiful sex crazed seductress committing murder during a drug fueled orgy sold newspapers. Raffaele simply didn't have the same appeal.
Amanda Knox was, and continues to be, vilified in the British press. Some of the reports in the UK are even more disparaging than the Italian press. One of Amanda's biggest enemies continues to be The Daily Mail. Here are just a few of the ridiculous headlines from The Daily Mail:
"Foxy Knoxy: Behind the Hollywood smile, a liar, a narcissist, and a killer"
"Foxy Knoxy “wanted to go shopping” after Meredith’s murder"
"Foxy Knoxy claims female cell mate begs her for sex “because I’m so pretty”"
"The Foxy Knoxy show: Smiling murder suspect makes grand entrance as trial begins"
This outright lie was printed after Amanda was convicted:
"Amanda Knox: I got a fair trial... I appreciate American reaction but it doesn't help me"
She said nothing of the sort. She said, her legal team did a fantastic job. That was all she said. Amanda was obviously devastated by the ruling. You would never know this if you read The Daily Mail.
Of course, The Daily Mail offers tabloid journalism. The more respected journalists in the UK must have been much more professional with the coverage right? Think again. Even though The Times London had a more balanced approach, they still couldn't resist the salacious headlines. Here are some of the headlines printed by The Times:
"Amanda Knox: ''angel-faced killer with ice cold eyes''"
"Amanda Knox tells of Meredith Kercher’s ‘yucky’ death"
"Amanda Knox, ‘Foxy Knoxy’, reveals her lesbian trauma"
"Diary reveals Foxy Knoxy’s sex secrets"
They even printed this outright lie:
"Amanda Knox: I'm only a target because I'm sexy"
Amanda Knox never made that statement. Amanda receives many letters of support in prison. She wrote about these letters in her diary.
"I think the same thing about this as I did before. If I were ugly would they be writing me wishing me encouragement? I don't think so. Oh, well, this is what my life is and I'll write to them and thank them for thinking of me." She adds "Jeez, I'm not even that good-looking! People are acting like I'm the prettiest thing since Helen of Troy!"
Where does the statement "I'm only a target because I'm sexy" come from? This is an extremely twisted view of Amanda's actual statement. This is typical, coming from the media.
The articles mentioned above, are just a small sampling of the abuse that Amanda endured in the media. The media has definitely played a major role in the horrible injustice that has been committed against Amanda and Raffaele.
One of the things that stuck out to me in regard to the media coverage, was the choice of photographs that accompanied the articles. When Amanda entered the courtroom, the cameras went haywire. Hundreds of photographs were taken of Amanda over the course of the trial. Imagine if someone followed you around with a camera for one day. Imagine how many different facial expressions you would make in the course of one day. Some of those impressions may only last a split second, but when a photo is taken, that split second expression on your face is locked in time in that one photograph.
It was not only the written words that were designed to assassinate the character of Amanda Knox, the photographs that accompanied those words played a key role. Here is just one example:
In the photo above, Amanda is seen with a smirk on her face and her eyes are looking upward in a sinister fashion. The photo was used to make Amanda look unstable as she enters the courtroom. The fact is, that expression was only on her face for a split second. She was simply going from a smile back to a normal expression. Why would she smile in court? Amanda spends twenty three hours a day in a prison cell. When she entered the courtroom, she saw her family. She saw the people that loved her and she smiled. This was a normal human emotion. Amanda smiled and the cameras flashed.
Early on, the US press was also very unkind to Amanda Knox. They were simply reporting the news as it was reported in Italy. As time went by, many media outlets in the US began reporting the actual facts. News programs began doing in depth investigative work on the case.
CBS News has done an excellent job of reporting this case:
CBS's 48 Hours Series, American Girl, Italian Nightmare.
On April 11, the CBS program 48 Hours devoted another hour to Amanda, showing that she is the victim of a flawed investigation. The entire program is available on the Internet:
CBS's 48 Hours series, American Girl, Italian Murder: The Verdict.
This program was aired on December 5. It is part of CBS's 48 Hours Mystery series, which is put together by people with extensive experience investigating and reporting on high-profile crimes.
There was also a documentary in the UK that provided honest coverage of the case.
UK Channel Four's Cutting Edge program, Sex, Lies and the Murder of Meredith Kercher.
Below is a link to an excellent report on the case. This report was broadcast April 21, 2008, as part of the UK Channel Four's Cutting Edge program. The link below will take you to the video page.
As time goes by, I think there will be a considerable shift in the media, worldwide. The truth about this case is becoming more apparent everyday. By the time the appeal trial starts in the fall, a majority of the media will be on Amanda's side. Once again, Amanda's story will sell. She is a young woman wrongfully imprisoned in a foreign land. She always was of course, but the sex crazed student killer story was just too good for the media to resist. Once again, Raffaele will be all but ignored. This case has exposed the media for what it is. As most of us already knew, it is not about the lives they affect, it is about the money they make.
The media that helped to put Amanda and Raffaele in prison will soon help to set them free.
All along, they never really cared about Amanda Knox, they simply cared about the money. As the old saying goes, follow the money.
The appeal trial will receive just as much attention as the first trial. With the opinion of the public shifting toward the belief that Amanda and Raffaele have been wrongfully convicted, the defense presentation will get a lot more attention. During the first trial, the court room was overfilled with reporters during the prosecution's presentation. The photo below shows members of the press actually sitting in the court's holding cells in an act of protest due to the over crowded courtroom.
The reporters all but ignored the defense presentation. The court was almost empty of reporters when the defense was questioning it's witnesses. Jurors were seen sleeping, prosecutor Giuliano Mignini even fell asleep and the judge was seen taking phone calls.
This will all change during the appeal. The media will have an entirely different outlook on the case. The media that once vilified Amanda Knox, will finally help to bring her home.
Raffaele will finally get to go home to his family too. I wonder if the media will even notice.
