My question to CNN: Why cover this trial?

By Jeff Orvis

Many of you already know that I'm a big fan of CNN. Having grown up in an era where you had to wait until 5:30 each week night to find out what happened in the world that day by switching on the national news on one of the three networks, when cable TV came into our home we could see immediately if there was a plane crash in this country or if we went to war.

I have long been a fan of correspondents like Anderson Cooper. He appeared live late one night, waist-deep in flood waters in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, imploring our government to come to the aid of the citizens of that area faster. He's been in some of the most dangerous hotspots around the world, risking his own life to bring us closer to what's really important.

But in the past few weeks, his lead story most nights involves a murder trial in Phoenix. Jodi Arias is accused of stabbing her boyfriend 29 times, slitting his throat and then shooting him. This crime happened almost five years ago, but her trial is just now underway.

As near as I can figure, nobody outside of their families of friends had heard of the accused or her victim prior to the murder. But suddenly, it's the lead story on CNN. Fox News, ABC, CBS, the Huffington Post and numerous other media outlets are now devoting countless hours and resources to this story.

This is the time when I wish TV could be a two-way communication device. My question to CNN and the others would be simple: “Why?” What makes this case any more unique than the undoubtedly hundreds or thousands of murders that have occurred since June 2008? What prompted the first news producer to decide to cover this trial and cause the unwarranted avalanche of media that followed?

Just imagine how much the networks must spend for the coverage of this routine trial. There's a lot more to it than one person with a microphone standing outside of a courthouse. There's the camera operator, sound person and probably a producer on scene. There's the travel, food and lodging for those people. A satellite truck must be on the scene and satellite time reserved for each broadcast. Those things aren't cheap.

Awhile back, I attended a murder trial in Scott County for a week. The media consisted of myself, one other daily newspaper reporter and her photographer and a couple of local TV reporters who were there for the final day. We never saw CNN or NBC. I'd be willing to bet that today, while the networks stumble all over themselves reporting the Arias trial in Arizona, there's probably at least one similar trial happening in each of the other 49 states in this country.

We hear so much about the shrinking budgets of national media outlets, both printed and broadcast. News bureaus are being closed or consolidated around the world. Meanwhile, we hear “breaking news” about a trial involving people we will forget within days of its conclusion.

As I indicated earlier, I have been a devoted fan of CNN and Anderson Cooper. But now each night, at the first mention of this trial, my hand finds the remote and I find something else to watch. I just wish some pollster would call me for my opinion on TV news. I would tell him the same thing: show me something that somehow will affect my life and I'll probably be back.

Breaking news indeed...