The Press On Trial

Perhaps no drama catches the interest of the American public more than a spectacular trial. Even though the reporting of a crime may quickly diminish in news value, the trial lingers while drama builds. Although this has become seemingly more pronounced in recent years with the popularity of televised trials, public interest in criminal trials was just as high in 1735 when John Peter Zenger defended his right to free speech, or in 1893 when Lizzie Borden was tried for the murder of her father and stepmother. This book tells the stories of sixteen significant trials in American history and their media coverage, from the Zenger trial in 1735 to the O. J. Simpson trial in 1995. Each chapter relates the history of events leading up to the trial, the people involved, and how the crimes and subsequent trials were reported.

This book analyzes the newspaper coverage of one of America’s most famous and dramatic trials–the trial of the “Chicago 8.” Covering a five month period from September 1969 to February 1970 the book considers the way eight radical activists including Black Panther leader Bobby Seale, antiwar activists Tom Hayden, David Dellinger, and Rennie Davis, and leading Yippies, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin are represented in the press. How did the New York Times represent Judge Hoffman’s decision to chain and gag Bobby Seale in the courtroom for demanding his right to represent himself? To what extent did the press adequately describe the injustice visited on the defendants in the trial by the presiding Judge, Julius J Hoffman? The author aims to answer these questions and demonstrate the press’s reluctance to criticize Judge Hoffman in the case until the evidence of his misconduct of the trial became overwhelming.

Considers S. 290, to protect integrity of court and jury functions in criminal cases by prohibiting publication of evidence not already admitted at the trial. Examines relationship between constitutional right of free press and constitutional guarantees of impartial trial.

Vse večja prisotnost predstavnikov množičnih medijev na sodišču odraža nova razmerja in prizadevanja v zvezi z uravnoteženostjo med svobodo tiska in pravico do poštenega sojenja. Primeri večjih sodnih procesov (O.J. Simpson, Timothy McVeigh) dajejo podrobnejši vpogled v delo sodišča, ob vse večjem številu novinarjev, televizijskih kamer, odvetnikov, sociologov in drugih strokovnjakov, ter odpirajo občutljiva splošna in posebna vprašanja, od univerzalnosti prava do posebnosti zahtev, ki izhajajo iz rasne, spolne in verske diskriminacije.

Contains a reference handbook to issues involving the media and the American court system and explores how technological advances from cameras in the courtroom to internet news have created new areas of controversy.

"Bibliographical notes": pages 479-494.

What do Lizzie Borden and O.J. Simpson have in common? Or the Lindbergh baby and Gary Gilmore? They were all the focus of famous crimes and/or trials in the United States. In this five-volume set, historical and contemporary cases that not only "shocked the nation" but that also became a part of the popular and legal culture of the United States are discussed in vivid, and sometimes shocking, detail. Each chapter focuses on a different crime or trial, and explores the ways in which each became famous in its own time. The fascinating cast of characters, the outrageous crimes, the involvement of the media, the actions of the police, and the trials that often surprised combine to offer here one of the most comprehensive sets of books available on the subject of famous U.S. crimes and trials.