Verdict is in on Peterson media circus

Now that a jury has reached a decision on Scott Peterson's fate, can we not see Gloria Allred every blessed day, at least for a little while?

Or, if we're lucky, fellow mouth-almighty attorneys Wendy Murphy, Nancy Grace, Dean Johnson, or that awful Dan Abrams, whose show on MSNBC, "The Abrams Report" has lately been all Peterson, all the time, even when there's been nothing new to report beyond flighty speculation and conjecture.

Of course, that's how it's been in the nearly two years since Peterson's wife, Laci, pregnant with their first child, Conner, disappeared in Modesto, Calif., on Christmas Eve. Armed with lots of photos of the lovely, dark-haired woman with the winning smile, network and cable news shows have covered her murder as if it were a matter of national security.

It's probably not an exaggeration to say that hundreds of broadcast hours have been devoted to her disappearance; Peterson's mistress, Amber Frey; the retrieval of the bodies of Laci and Conner; every twist of Peterson's murder trial; his conviction; and the death sentence the jury handed down yesterday. For months, the case has been featured at or near the top of newscasts, especially on all the morning network and cable news shows, sometimes taking priority over even the war in Iraq.

None of this is to diminish the tragic murder of a young wife and mother-to-be, the murder conviction of her husband, or how these events have forever scarred two families. Yet media saturation transformed the case into just another celebrity-driven frenzy, even though neither Scott nor Laci were famous before her disappearance. So skewed was the notion of their "celebrity" that Laci was even the subject of a much-repeated two-hour episode of "E! True Hollywood Story," the kind of dubious distinction usually reserved for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Anna Nicole Smith, and Elvis. What could possibly be less Hollywood than a fertilizer salesman and a substitute teacher from a small California city?

Months after Peterson's arrest in April 2003, there was also a slapdash USA Network movie, "The Perfect Husband," starring Dean Cain. At the time, Jeff Wachtel, USA's executive vice president of original scripted programming, said the movie wasn't just about "a specific crime, it's also a movie about our culture -- how someone can gain then betray the trust of a woman, a family, a community."

Here's how overwhelming media coverage betrayed our culture. It reduced a family tragedy to a national pastime, a sporting event complete with "fans" cheering Peterson's conviction last month outside the courtroom. Despite a ban on TV cameras in the courtroom, this was the case that, at times, seemed to even outpace coverage of the O. J. Simpson trial.

Network suits defended their coverage by claiming they were only fulfilling a public craving for information about the case, and sadly, they may be right. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Fox News talk-show host Bill O'Reilly said, "We do Laci Peterson every 15 minutes and see the numbers go up." The networks certainly wouldn't devote so much time to the case if it didn't result in bigger ratings.

Then there's been the parade of talking-head lawyers behaving with all the aplomb of World Wrestling Entertainment performers. If attorneys have long been saddled with reputations as ambulance-chasing ghouls, the Peterson case has recast them as camera-hogging fools. Except for CNN's classy legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, most TV appearances by lawyers commenting on the case have been tantamount to "Crossfire"-style smackdowns offering more volume than thoughtful perspective. Intended to add pertinent insights, these sessions usually resembled the kinds of blockhead arguments found in sports bars in the wee hours.

Instead of wasting wattage on Allred, Grace, and their professional cronies, the Peterson case should have offered a compelling opportunity to investigate the sobering fact that murder, according to a 2001 Maryland study later published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is the leading cause of death for pregnant women. Of course, how could facts from a respected medical journal ever compete with tape-recorded phone calls between Peterson and Frey, or Frey's risque photos?

Now the public spectacle that for almost two years has endlessly exploited a young woman's murder and the bottomless grief of two families is ending. Soon we'll have no more of Abrams's hyperbole on the "Today" show, no know-it-all routine from Grace on "Larry King Live," no sniping from Murphy across the dial. Enjoy the relative silence for as long as it endures, but alas, it won't last long. Michael Jackson's child-molestation case -- and the whole stifling media circus that will accompany it -- is scheduled to begin next month.

Rene Graham's Life in the Pop Lane column runs on Tuesdays. She can be reached at graham@globe.com