Here’s the latest 4MR audio report from MediaShift. In this week’s edition, I talk about the new gloomy State of the Media report from the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ), and the positive side for online media. I ask “Just One Question” to PEJ director Tom Rosensteil, and cover the latest news about jurors going online, Twittering and Facebooking when they’re supposed to be mum about trials in progress. Check it out:
Background music is “What the World Needs” by the The Ukelele Hipster Kings via PodSafe Music Network
Here are some links to related sites and stories mentioned in the podcast:
PEJ’s State of the Media 2009 report
PEJ’s Special Report on Citizen-Based Media
Short-Shrifting Seattle at CJR
As Jurors Turn to Web, Mistrials Are Popping Up
Ex-Pa. Sen. Fumo convicted on all 137 counts at Delaware Online
Here’s a graphical view of last week’s MediaShift survey results:
Thank you for this posting. Clearly, jurors’ use of social media to conduct research about a case is causing quite a stir. Kansas, Colorado, New Jersey state or federal courts allow it. Georgia and other states do not. Post trial jury interviews show that despite court admonitions, jurors want to know everything they can about a case in order to make a decision they can be proud of. An admirable goal no doubt. As in the case of other jury trial innovations, we are likely headed toward eventually accepting this tendency of jurors since it is compulsive behavior that is not likely to cease with court instructions. Instead of trying to cure the problem with an instruction, we might try a brief training or orientation session with jurors to quell their desire to look for outside information. We would also be well advised to conduct advance research on the Web to identify the information and sources of information about the case that appear on the Web in order to see it before jurors do and deal with it directly in court.