Current research on media and the law has generally been atheoretical and contradictory. This volume explains why pretrial publicity is unlikely to affect the outcome of most jury trials, despite many experimental studies claiming to show the influence of publicity. It reviews existing literature on the topic and includes results from the authors' own research in an effort to answer four questions:
*Does pretrial publicity bias the outcome of trials?
*If it has an effect, under what conditions does this effect emerge?
*What remedies should courts apply in situations where pretrial...

A review of existing social science research concerning pretrial publicity that incorporates media theory and original field research and comes to the conclusion that fears of pretrial publicity are overstated.

From the blaming of Princess Diana's death on news photographers to the public apology by CNN over its erroneous Vietnam-nerve-gas story, journalism and the American media in general are being placed under the microscope. The media-now more powerful than ever before due to computer advances, cable television, and the internet-controls our opinions, tastes, and, as some would have us believe, our actions.
But has the media shed its ethics and gotten completely out of control? Has the quest to get the big scoop crippled the news media into believing "first" is better than factual? To whom...