Kercher Family betrayed by insensitivity of the media.

“Everyone needs to remember the brutality of what happened and everything she went through, the fear and the terror… I think Meredith has been almost forgotten” said Meredith Kercher’s sister Stephanie after Amanda Knox won her appeal.

The main focus of media attention naturally falls on the prime suspect in a murder case. However the particular type of attention certain sections of the media have directed towards Amanda Knox has been at best insensitive. At worst it has been morally and ethically reprehensible.

The Sun newspaper has repeatedly referred to the accused as ‘Foxy Knoxy’ quite often in big headline splashes on the front page. Not only does the sexual inference of this phrase damage the defendant’s public image, the light hearted and jovial tone of this moniker indirectly makes light of Miss Kercher’s death.

The Daily Mail, The Sun and the Daily Mirror have all covered Miss Knox’s return to the United States using phrases such as ‘delighted’ ‘all smiles’ and ‘beaming’ to describe her demeanour. Using such language in the public domain is extremely insensitive towards those who may have known Miss Kercher, especially considering the many question marks that hang over the decision and the possibility of an appeal by the prosecution.

The most disgusting and disturbing example of the blatant disregard shown to the victim of this crime and her family comes from Channel 5 topical debate programme The Wright Stuff. On his programme on October 5^th 2011 presenter Matthew Wright asked his male viewers “If you met Amanda Knox in a bar and she invited you back to her room – would ya?” with the banner on screen bearing the tag-line “Foxy Knoxy – Would ya?” Mr Wright has since apologised but the explicit sexual reference and laddish tone of this question trivialises the death of a young girl in horrible circumstances and is utterly indefensible.

What seems to have been forgotten or disregarded by some media organisations is that a family is still grieving for a loved one. Meredith Kercher’s family has suffered this kind of insensitive and distasteful treatment of the case for nearly three years. As if the torment of losing her wasn’t enough the Daily Mail, The Sun and others have turned her loss into a macabre money spinning circus for their own ends at the cost of common decency and press integrity.