Post by RS Davis on Oct 28, 2003 21:41:47 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]William Anderson Wrote:[/glow] In an article on the performance of the mainstream press in the Martha Stewart case, I pointed out that while the charges against Stewart seem specious at best, there actually were felonies committed in the investigation of Stewart. The first was the leaking to the press of information from a Congressional investigation of the sale of ImClone stock involving Stewart, and the second was the obvious leaking of federal grand jury testimony to the New York Times by the staff of U.S. Attorney James Comey.
To the editors of the Times and their defenders, this is simply "good journalism." In reality, it is nothing more than a news organization permitting a federal prosecutor to use that organization as a personal mouthpiece. Such leaks, because of their timing and the selectivity of the information that is released, are almost always devastating to defendants in court cases. First, they help to poison the jury pool by helping to create a lynch mob atmosphere, and second, they present a false picture of a case to the general public. Furthermore, because the modern grand jury process is little more than yet another prosecutorial tool, the independence of this once-important body having been fatally compromised, such leaks clearly violate the constitutional protections of a fair trial for defendants.
Again, defenders of the media will claim that the media simply is performing its duties of "the public's right to know," but one must ask the simple question, "Know what?" If the media is presenting a false picture—and aiding and abetting a prosecutorial agent of the state in the commission of a felony—then we should ask whether or not journalists willingly are helping the state to lie.
To the editors of the Times and their defenders, this is simply "good journalism." In reality, it is nothing more than a news organization permitting a federal prosecutor to use that organization as a personal mouthpiece. Such leaks, because of their timing and the selectivity of the information that is released, are almost always devastating to defendants in court cases. First, they help to poison the jury pool by helping to create a lynch mob atmosphere, and second, they present a false picture of a case to the general public. Furthermore, because the modern grand jury process is little more than yet another prosecutorial tool, the independence of this once-important body having been fatally compromised, such leaks clearly violate the constitutional protections of a fair trial for defendants.
Again, defenders of the media will claim that the media simply is performing its duties of "the public's right to know," but one must ask the simple question, "Know what?" If the media is presenting a false picture—and aiding and abetting a prosecutorial agent of the state in the commission of a felony—then we should ask whether or not journalists willingly are helping the state to lie.
- Rick
