Documentary series on Netflix – The mass media GerichtDie documentary series “Trial by Media” criticized the influence of television, Newspapers, and co. the judiciary is not free from hypocrisy.Gregor Schenker0 comment personal stories are intended to represent a defendant company’s head of human.: Scene from “Trial By Media”.Image: zvg

in 1995, is invited Jonathan Schmitz, the “Jenny Jones Show”. A Person of the wool to him to confess her love, and publicly on television. Schmitz can. In the Studio, it turns out that it is in the Person of his well-Known Scott Amedure. In contrast to this, Schmitz is gay, and he responds to the confession, deeply embarrassed. The audience hoots. A few days after the recording Schmitz and Scott Amedure on searches in the mobile home and shoots him twice in the chest. Amedure dies on the spot, Schmitz turns to the police. The output of the “Jenny Jones Show” will not be broadcast.

this is the case, it goes in the first Episode of the documentary series “Trial by Media”, which is now on Netflix accessible. Each of the six follow – on rolls out a sensational court process and want to show how case law and reporting are interlinked. As will be discussed in the trial against Schmitz, how much responsibility, Jenny Jones, and the producers of your shipment carry.

Not only the media in the pillory

not if you have driven it, the Schmitz to commit murder? It does not belong to the concept of this and other talk shows, to play with the lives of people? In the pillory the media, the reports about the process: the Same group that produces the “Jenny Jones Show” but Time Warner, maintains the cable channel Court TV that is live at the trial. You could say It benefits those company from the Drama, it has to answer to.

If the “Trial by Media” to exercise this criticism has, however, also somewhat Hypocritical: does not re-money, with the murder of Scott Amedure? To do this, the founder of Court TV fits, the Executive producer of “Trial by Media” also Steven Brill is located.

From the CEO to the Holy

court cases provide Material for television entertainment and, conversely, the defendant and their lawyers try in court to convince juries with good stories. Very vividly comes across in the fourth Episode, “King Richard”. This is from Richard Scrushy, the CEO of a company for health care, the fraud of 2003, due to the Balance sheet in the billions is accused. The half-a-head days is already condemned. Since Scrushy media discovered effective the Religion and joins a Church. He is a Pastor and buys broadcast time for their own talk show, in which he styles himself the victim of a conspiracy.

This story weaves his lawyer before the court: Scrushy had been placed by his subordinates and the state of in. The lawyer told the jury of alleged sayings of his grandmother (“Every pancake has two sides”), and works with cartoon drawings. The Prosecutor’s office tries to explain to the Jury the factual basis of the balance-sheet fraud. Scrushy comes free.

Again, it is striking that “Trial by Media” criticized how the media and prosecutors make it true, exciting stories, even works, but according to the same principle. Either there was not enough there for self-reflection, or it is a cynical calculation. As long as you keep that in mind, you can learn from the series but a lot of things. And even if the cases shown America are all very – you can see the Parallel to the case of “Carlos” are obvious.

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