It is hardly surprising that for the past two days Sky has played little else but “Daughter of OJ”.–. On Monday night, as the sentence was passed it is estimated that 1.7 million people were watching. The two producers act like bodyguards, shielding the Woodwards from photographers, and another documentary is expected soon.American journalists are also frustrated because the deep pockets of the Daily Mail, Hello! magazine or the Sun are likely to buy up access to the family.This hasn’t stopped the rest of the British media leaping into the story head first. Independent Local Radio stations bought up news packages from ITN yesterday that re-played the entire tale in key soundbites.For Sky News the trial has been what the Gulf War was for CNN The news channel is normally seen by at most 70,000 viewers.

Even the Oklahoma bombing trial of Timothy McVeigh failed to spark the American public’s interest like the Woodward case.However, American journalists are now feeling frustrated that the British media is making the running on the story.Woodward’s parents, Gary and Sue, spent much of the trial with two producers from Carlton Television’s The Big Story, which ran a sympathetic documentary about their daughter before the case started. The networks dropped the usual fare of afternoon soaps and advertising to stay with an empty court room.After the overkill of the OJ Simpson trial the American public had lost some of its appetite for courtroom dramas. Her weeping at the guilty verdict made it a truly national story.The usually aloof star evening news anchors from New York and Washington moved to Boston to await the judge’s verdict and were forced to kill time on air as he took a recess before announcing the sentence. ButBoston radio reporter Flo Jonic, who covered the case for WBZ radio, said: “People are largely disgusted with this … Three to five years would have put some value on this baby’s life. This girl now has the rest of her life to look forward to and Matthew is dead.”.

American journalists are calling the Louise Woodward case “Daughter of OJ” because of its domination of the media. On both sides of the Atlantic television, radio and newspapers reacted to the au pair’s release by tearing up their programme schedules and news pages and devoting all of their energies to the case over the past two days.
Yesterday all of America’s national breakfast shows devoted their entire programmes to the case, using experts and talking heads to fill out their coverage.Although some newspapers were unsure about freeing the 19-year-old so soon, the tabloid Boston Herald summed the majority feeling across America with its punning headline “Saved by Zobel”.It had only been a big story in Boston until the moment when Woodward was convicted of second degree murder. “The initial response after the verdict was predominantly sympathy to Louise Woodward … something happened to that baby and it happened when Louise was taking care of him.”Matthew Storin, the editor of the Boston Globe, which carried the punning headline “Saved by Zobel”, said sympathy had switched to Deborah and Sunil Eappen. “I was not unhappy with the judge’s ruling for some form of manslaughter, but to follow that up with nothing for a sentence seems unduly lenient to me,” he said.

“It’s interesting that the time she has served is about as long as the baby was alive; I don’t think that’s appropriate.”Another juror, who did not wish to be named, said: “I don’t think any of us thought she intentionally murdered Matthew But … But 52 per cent also thought he was wrong to free her immediately.Stephen Colwell, one of the trial jurors, said he was convinced Woodward had killed the baby. Support for the au pair evaporated as Americans asked how a judge could find her guilty of killing a child one minute, and then free her the next. The feeling was best expressed by Jay Leno, the American television presenter, who told his audience: “Looks like OJ’s got a new golfing buddy.”
A poll in the USA Today showed that 52 per cent of Americans agreed with Judge Hiller Zobel’s decision to reduce Woodward’s sentence from murder to manslaughter. In its motions to Judge Zobel post-trial, the defence asked for a re-trial on the grounds that the first trial was prejudiced on various counts, including by the late disclosure of important photographic evidence It could appeal Judge Zobel’s denial of a new trial. It is doubtful, however, whether the defence would be ready to go to a retrial..

A rumble of anger rolled across America yesterday as disbelief over the conviction of Louise Woodward was replaced by a sense of bewilderment that she was sentenced to just 279 days for manslaughter. This too, however, seems like a tall order.There is also another option. Here too, however, the prosecution lawyers face an uphill struggle, if only because it was they, at trial, that tried to force Judge Zobel to keep manslaughter as an option for the jury when it retired to consider Woodward’s fate.The defence, meanwhile, is expected to clarify its appeal approach either today or later this week. Even prosecution sources admitted yesterday, however, that the tactic was a long-shot and almost doomed to failure.Then there will be the prosecution’s appeal proper. What seems certain is that it will attempt to overturn the manslaughter verdict and have Louise acquitted and her name cleared.