Ethics in the Media Introduction The media is co

In an article first written and published over 40 years ago, Jessica Mitford (1979) denounced the practice of trial by headline, which she noted was increasingly the practice in newspapers. According to her, the media was irresponsible when it essentially tried a subject in the newspaper. She believed that the press needed to take strong action to police itself, or that the public would demand protections through legislation and court action. What is interesting about this article, besides her conclusion, is that it described a situation very similar to that of Richard Jewell. A suspect was identified by the police and the media essentially concluded that he was guilty. However, eventually another person admitted to the crime under consideration and the police eliminated the first suspect from consideration. A couple of the questions that Mitford asked about that case sound familiar, and are applicable to the Richard Jewell case. She asked: "Should police be permitted, prior to indictment and trial, to feed the press stepbystep details of thei

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nd told the newspaper people that Jewell was a suspect. This FBI source gave the newspaper details that seemed to indicate that Jewell was involved. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution chose to publish this information in a special edition of the newspaper (Wagner, 1997). This began the focus on Jewell, which was intense and longterm. What was the result for Richard Jewell? In his own words, he felt "like a hunted animal, followed constantly, waiting to be killed" (Wagner, 1997). He was unable to get a job, scorned by many, and under constant scrutiny in all his affairs. His neighbors and his family were also part of this process, with all their movements and thoughts picked apart. Brenner (1997) noted that not only was Jewell scrutinized by the media, he was judged by it. The media concluded that he fit the profile of a lone bomber and that he was probably guilty. The result was that Jewell's reputation was completely destroyed, while all the details of his life, some less savory than others were made public property. Neither Jewell nor his mother Bobi had any privacy. Their lives became an open book for the media to present to the American public. They were not allowed to live quietly with their mistakes and foolish
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Approximate Word count = 1216
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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