Trial by Media

Amanda Knox who is on trial for the murder of her roommate in Italy has been undergoing a trial long before her actual trial began. With the onslaught of media, Amanda Knox was deemed guilty by the Italian press long before the investigators were done fully investigating the case. The media has changed the landscape of justice, not only in our country but world wide. Jurors should be able to decide a case that they have yet to form an opinion about before hand. But with the sensationalized media, this is becoming more and more impossible. The Drew Peterson case is another in which the media and the public have already formulated an opinion. I will not give my opinion as to his guilt or innocence, but I will say that it will be extremely difficult to find jurors who have not heard of him when the time does come for him to stand trial. And then what type of jurors could he possibly get? They would have to live in a cave to not have heard of him or this case before. It is only human to draw conclusions or have opinions about these stories, but it is harmful to our justice system when the media presents such a biased filter. If I was going to stand trial for a crime, I'd feel more intimidated by the media's perception of my guilt than anyone else. They have the power to persuade the public and they fail to use their power responsibly.