About as many Americans think media coverage on Amanda Knox has been too soft as think it's been too harsh. But even more say it's been fair
Amanda Knox, who was accused of murdering 21-year-old British student Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007, is releasing today a memoir called Waiting to be Heard that details the night of the murder, her imprisonment, and her life after her acquittal. Knox, who also faces a potential retrial of her case in Italy, says that she hopes to be "reconsidered as a person" after years of what she perceived as unfair media coverage depicting her as a “devil”.
New YouGov research reveals that few Americans see the media’s portrait of Knox the same way she does. While 13% do think the coverage of Knox in the media has been "too harsh", almost as many (11%) think it has been “too soft” on her. Even more (25%) think the coverage was fair.
However much sympathy or compassion she has won so far, Knox may at least be relieved to know that many Americans still want to hear her side of the story.
Almost a quarter (24%) of US adults expressed an interest in reading the new memoir, for which Knox was reportedly paid $4 million.
Some Americans would even go through an ordeal similiar to Knox's—including four years in an Italian prison and being treated as a "devil"—if there was a $4 million memoir deal at the end of it.
11% say they would either probably (8%) or definitely (3%) go through an ordeal similar to Knox’s for a multimillion dollar book deal. 77%, however, said they wouldn’t, of whom 12% would “probably not” and 65% would “definitely not” go through such an ordeal.
Complete results are available here.