Trial by media
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Trial by media is a phrase popular in the late 20th century and early 21st century to describe the impact of television and newspaper coverage on a person's reputation by creating a widespread perception of guilt or innocence before, or after, a verdict in a court of law.
In the United Kingdom there is a heated debate between those who support a free press which is largely uncensored and those who place a higher priority on an individual's right to privacy and right to a fair trial.
During high publicity court cases, the media are often accused of provoking an atmosphere of public hysteria akin to a lynch mob which not only makes a fair trial nearly impossible but means that regardless of the result of the trial the accused will not be able to live the rest of their life without intense public scrutiny.
The counter-argument is that the mob mentality exists independently of the media which merely voices the opinions which the public already has.
There are different reasons why the media attention is particularly intense surrounding a legal case: the first is that the crime itself is in some way sensational, by being horrific or involving children; the second is that it involves a celebrity either as victim or accused.
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History
Although a recently coined phrase, the idea that popular media can have a strong influence on the legal process goes back certainly to the advent of the printing press and probably much further. This is not including the use of a state controlled press to criminalize political opponents, but in its commonly understood meaning covers all occasions where the reputation of a person has been drastically affected by ostensibly non-political publications.
20th century
Roscoe Arbuckle
One of the first celebrities in the 20th century to be arguably tried by media was Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle who was acquitted by the courts but nevertheless lost his career and reputation due to the media coverage.
Parallels can be drawn between these cases and the trial of O.J. Simpson. The connection is less about guilt or innocence but about the promotion of the media coverage in the public mind above the status of the court.
Rodney King
In the United States trial of the police officers involved in the arrest of Rodney King the officers' acquittal was challenged by the media reporting with violent consequences. What makes this case particularly important historically is the fact that it was amateur video footage which provided the key evidence of perceived guilt. As video cameras and their digital successors and CCTV become more wide spread, this type of 'caught on camera' incident become more and more common. This can pose real problems for the legal system as the evidence they provide may be inadmissible for technical reasons (e.g. not being able to pinpoint exact times) but they give very strong images for the media (and public) to seize upon and the potential to manipulate by editing.
Lindy Chamberlain
Between 1980 and 1982 an Australian Lindy Chamberlain had a well publicised murder trial and was convicted of killing her baby, but later released in 1986 on new evidence showing that a dingo had in fact committed the act as was originally claimed by Chamberlain.
The case has been considered a clear cut case of 'trial by media'.
The media reported forensic evidence later found to be faulty. However they failed to report relevant evidence from witnesses eg. hearing Azaria cry when on the prosecution theory she would need to be already dead.
There was also a failure to publicise that for the prosecution theory of guilt to succeed Chamberlain was required to "within the space of 10 minutes: returned to the tent, persuading her son not to follow her, put on a pair of track suit pants, taken Azaria to the car, found a weapon and killed the child, allowed sufficient time for the child to die (not less than 2-3 minutes) hidden the body, cleaned up some of the blood, removed her tracksuit pants, obtained the baked beans for Aidan, returned to the tent, entered the tent and done whatever she did in order to leave blood splashes there, collected Aidan and returned to the barbeque".
The motion picture A Cry in the Dark depicted Chamberlain, as played by actress Meryl Streep, caught in a "trial by media" which fed the public's, and subsequently the jury's false conviction of her.
Chris Hurley
In 2004 Australian police officer 115 kg Senior Sargeant Chris Hurley was supervising a prisoner at a watchhouse. The prisoner had punched Hurley in the jaw when exiting the police vehicle and struggled to escape leading to missing a step into the watchhouse and both Hurley and the prisoner falling in. The prisoner died in the jail cell that day. An early media article gave unretracted allegations that the deceased's face looked like it was beaten beyond recognition even though this was later contradicted by medical evidence in the coroner's report (the only visible injury to the face was a small cut above an eye). The media construct suggested a racially motivated beating to death. The deceased was an indigenous Australian. However Hurley was working at in an aboriginal community after a series of postings where he voluntarily worked at aboriginal communities, his peers advised that he enjoyed assisting the aboriginal community and was well known for his work with aboriginal children., aboriginal activist Murrandoo Yanner advised that Hurley wasn't a racist and the Indigenous communities that he had worked in loved him, and he made contributions to the Federal Parliamentary Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs approximately a year before the incident complaining about failure to implement an aboriginal death in custody inquiry recommendation. The media downplayed the possibility that the death was caused by the fall even though all medical experts at the inquest allowed for the possibility and emphasised allegations of punching as a possible cause of death even though the Supreme Court of Appeal later noted that the medical evidence unequivocally rejected the alleged punching as a cause of death.
Hurley was investigated for causing the death. The Director of Public Prosecutions and the Criminal Misconduct Commission both investigated and found that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. The Director of Public Prosecutions stated publicly that the death was a tragic accident. Shortly after these decisions, an Australian national newspaper compared the situation to the death of African aboriginal Steve Biko in Pretoria prison, South Africa in 1977. Police claimed Biko died of a hunger strike in spite of massive head injuries suggesting otherwise. The journalist who authored the story Tony Koch, won the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year award for relevant reports in The Australian newspaper and in particular the resulting effective contribution he made to the public outcry. In providing the award the judges commended his reporting as "courageous, relentless and effective". Apparently the media response was effective in catalysing a prosecution. The Beattie State Government used a unique prosecution method to launch a trial. A former head of the Director of Public Prosecutions commented that it put Beattie "under a cloud".
Likewise the state Police Union later released advertisements against the Beattie Queensland government, comparing the government to Robert Mugabe and his government.
More specifically the ad stated: "Zimbabwe is a good example of what could happen where politicians override the laws to suit themselves." This referred to the claim by the Union that governmental initiation of a review of the DPP decision amounted to political interference in the justice system.
Although Hurley was found not guilty in the resulting trial the media portrayed the trial as a miscarriage of justice.
Casey Anthony
Found not guilty by jury and released July 17. 2011. Media coverage continues. Numerous headlines of similar phraseology to "Casey Anthony Gets Away With Murder" run minutes after not guilty verdict.
Myra Hindley and Maxine Carr
Even where a criminal court finds somebody guilty the media can still appear to sit in judgement over their sentence. Examples include Myra Hindley whose proposed release from prison after thirty years was widely condemned by the British press (the argument became moot when she died in 2002); Maxine Carr who, having served her sentence, has been released and is, according to some commentators being "demonised by the press".
Often the coverage in the press can be said to reflect the views of the person in the street. However, more credibility is generally given to printed material than 'water cooler gossip'. The responsibility of the press to confirm reports and leaks about individuals being tried has come under increasing scrutiny and journalists are calling for higher standards. There was much debate over U.S President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial and prosecutor Kenneth Starr's investigation and how the media handled the trial by reporting commentary from lawyers which influenced public opinion.
Another example was the investigation into biologist Steven Hatfill allegedly sending anthrax through the U.S. mail as a terrorist attack, which resulted in no conviction, but Hatfill went on to sue as his reputation was severely tarnished and career destroyed.
Families and friends of persons convicted of crimes have apparently successfully used the power of the media to reopen cases, such as the Stephen Downing case in Derbyshire where a campaign by a local newspaper editor resulted in a successful appeal and his release after twenty seven years in prison.
Trial by Media in India
In India, trial by media has assumed significant proportions. Some famous criminal cases that would have gone unpunished but for the intervention of media are Priyadarshini Mattoo case, Jessica Lal case, Nitish Katara murder case and Bijal Joshi rape case.
The media however drew criticism in the reporting of murder of Aarushi Talwar, when it preempted the court and reported that her own father Dr. Rajesh Talwar, and possibly her mother Nupur Talwar were involved in her murder, thus reviving memories of JonBenet Ramsey murder, which was hauntingly similar.
See also
