Trial by Media

The show Trial by Media was an eye opener. It was amazing to see how a medium such as media had such a diverse impact on the lives of so many people in the United States and over the world. How a medium could have such an impact on the judicial system, the victims, the families, communities, and so on. It was heart breaking at times to see the system fail you, sometimes you never understood the system at all. Trial by Media shows how the system functions, the effect the Jury has, the efforts put in by the lawyers on both sides of the coin. Many of the cases that have been covered in this TV show were unfamiliar to me, and it was educative to me. The show has documented each event very well, giving as insight to how the media functioned in each of the cases. It was astonishing to understand the power of media, the concept of Court TV and its impact on so many lives. How people would be interested in watching the events of one's life rather than their own. The show has managed to get all the important characters together and talk about the events that happened years ago. Trail by Media will make you question everything about the system and the media itself. Voyeurism will be the best word to explain this show.

I wasn't thinking this would be as compelling as it was. Some of the stories are fascinating not so much a media critique as just a perspective on society's reaction to crime. There are some episodes that are better than others 41 Shots and Dan's Bar are both heartbreaking. Keep watching as some episodes are good but not great.

This documentary has grabbed my attention because if the unique concept it introduces. Looking at the influence of media coverage on criminal justice system in the US. One of the most interesting parts of this documentary is when they interviewed defence attorneys and prosecutors in order to get highlight how they were thinking while trying to represent the victims or the defendants. I particularly enjoyed episode 4 as the two defence attorneys were brilliant and they had outstanding narrative to influence the jury by using every possible means from exploitation of the witnesses' darkest and deepest secrets And using it against them to try to tailor stories and make up some facts to play mind games and influence the jury even more. What I missed in this series is two things, digging deep in the facts related to the crimes themselves and not explaining the crimes committed in more details and the other point, not analysing and showing how the media played a role in changing the dynamics of the trials. In the series, the focus was shifted towards how the media covered the trials and has been in the middle of the courtrooms not on how it made a difference in the final outcomes or the verdicts.

I thing it's a great work but if the producers are planning to make a new season, they need to elaborate more on the crimes committed and the real influence of the media on the final outcomes of the trials.

But those camera angels are just awfully distracting.

Trial by Media is another solid Netflix Docu-Series I set to my notification list long ago. It does not disappoint, nor exceed the thoughts that precede. I like the fact that they cover the b-sides of what has been televised. It doesn't cover the OJ Simpson Trial, or Michael Jackson's Trial, or anything like that. The cases covered are far removed enough, to only have been heard in passing, though not fully realized.

Interesting enough, the cases covered may be stenciled on, however not in the broadest of strokes. That is something I am grateful for. Is something like a podcast with visuals, the minimalist approach seems to work for me.

Covering societal impact through media's outward reflection. It ponders what that says about us, covering a wide range of topics such as race, consent, corruption, psychopathy, misuse of power, and capitalism's flawed infrastructure. The series never takes sides, only stating the facts one episode at a time.