Friday, May 3

Review: Knox TV Special -

The ABC TV Amanda Knox Prime Time Special with Diane Sawyer is over, and we can't call it Checkbook Journalism, because it wasn't any kind of Journalism whatsoever. It was a strictly promotional, hour-long commercial for her book.

You know those guest spots on late night shows where a movie star drops in to plug his latest movie? That's what the ABC Amanda Knox Special was, but dragged out and stretched to fill an entire hour. And, even then, ABC was not completely honest or straightforward about how much of this kind of content viewers should expect.

Not only was there an hour with Diane Sawyer, but after that, the Nightline program would be offering even more Amanda Knox content, which I wasn't able to catch. Moreover, the next morning, I was quite disgusted to discover that Amanda Knox was scheduled to invade GMA. At my age I have very limited tolerance for people like Amanda Knox.

How did Amanda Knox come off in the special? She came off as Miss Thing with the quivering lip who portrays herself as the principal victim whenever a plane crashes in Sri Lanka. Her posturings looked almost laughably ridiculous. The Drama Queen who thrusts herself into the center of every story, no matter how absurd it may be.

Were there any glaring errors in the special? Yes, I spotted one howler. ABC News felt compelled to include a clip of Elizabeth Vargas hectoring Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini with misattributed remarks she accused him of making.

A quick and simple Google search query yielded more accurate sourcing for such remarks: Amanda Knox was described as a "diabolical, Satanic, demonic she-devil" by Patrick Lumumba's lawyer, Carlo Pacelli, according to one newspaper article. When is ABC going to quit flogging this dead horse?

The Meredith Kercher Homicide was a ghoulish crime. The American Public should try to ignore this troubled young woman, give her some space, and let her get the professional help she needs away from the glare of the unblinking spotlight.

CBS has previewed their upcoming crime show for this weekend. It will be about a chef who ate his wife. I think I'll skip that one.

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