In fact media people and many others thronged Dayton to witness the famous trial first hand.
The trial was on for the education system that is whether it is to be ruled by the faith or reason. Darrel held the belief that education system should not be controlled by the bigots and so he grilled Bryan on the issue who in turn gave confusing answers contradicting his own views about the interpretation of Bible. On one hand Bryan failed to impress with his views while n the other hand critics like H.L. Mencken made a mockery of the trial. This whole brouhaha created a picture of a tussle between forward approach of science and backward approach of religion. After the Tennessee Supreme Court verdict federal jurisprudence braced the idea of teaching evolution in the science classrooms while sunning creationism. This was considered a big victory for science and reasoning resulting in rejection of anti-evolution laws in many states. Also, the trial later on in the 60s got interpreted in the movie as the victory of free speech against oppression.
The trial did create an impression for a while but disbelief in Darwinism did not disappear completely and time and again it started showing in public sphere indifferent modes. Let's not forget the Edward J. Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning book 'Summer of Gods' in which he made his anti-Darwinism ideas loud...
Also Church kept on raising its voice in different ways against Darwin and his evolution theory. A large number of American people kept on subscribing to literal interpretation of Bible while being skeptical of the beliefs of Darwin. The movement that was curbed temporarily by the trial kept on gaining force with the passage of time and now the religious conservatism can be seen on the rise again. In the decade of 70s the emergence of Reagan in presidential office got the agenda of religious beliefs and conservatism back on the forefront.
Today we see the debate on 'intelligent design' again and many consider this a version of creationism that religious conservatives want to propagate. Again we see media playing its role and 'creation science' being talked about on it. So, many believe that anti-evolution and pro-creationism beliefs always remained entrenched in the American culture and now they are coming back with a new vengeance to find their place in American high school science syllabi. The Scopes trial was considered an end to the drama but in fact today it is more of a legend.
Reference:
Gaffney Jr., Edward (July 12, 1998). Trial of the Century: How the Scopes Trial Framed the Modern Debate over Science and Religion. Los Angeles Times, Retrieved October 23, 2006, at http://www.arn.org/larson/latimes071298.htm
