EOTO Reaction: Trial By Media

       

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In the eyes of the law the way we make decisions often has a lot to do with trial. A person is accused of something and then they go before a judge and a jury and they tell their side and the evidence is supposed to speak for itself. This is theoretically how justice is supposed to work. However, what happens when the media gets a whiff of a murder trial or an impressive embezzling scheme that almost worked.

It can begin to get somewhat out of the hands of the Judge and Jury because the media has now spoken, with the huge headlines and ongoing articles. This has led to the phenomenon known as a “Trial by Media”. This phenomenon was probably seen the most in the O.J Simpson case.

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O.J Simpson was a famous NFL Player who was accused of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Shortly after her death her ex-husband O.J Simpson’s trial started. It quickly became the case of the century it was televised which allowed the public to make their own mind about the case. This allowed the public and the media to sensationalize the case and turn it into the infamous case we know today.

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The phrase trial by media perfectly explains this case, a trial that was meant to only be in the courts ended up being broadcasted for the world to see. Effectively the social repercussions of the case is what trial by media ultimately means. Even though O.J Simpson was acquitted of the charges against Nicole Brown Simpson, he still ended up going to jail anyway for separate charges. However, the public had already decided that he was guilty in their own eyes. We see this happen even today when certin crimes happen in the news the people have such harsh social repercussions that follow the person even enter the crime or the story is long over. Weather the person was found guilty or innocent in the legal courts or not. 

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This topic Is extremely interesting and it attempts to take a deeper look at human behavior and at the way we see and judge things. It also causes us as people to take a better look at the way the media portrays cases. It also starts a bigger conversation of cancel couture and the way society condemns people socially.