What is trial by media?

NEW DELHI: Bollywood actor Aditya Panscholi and Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi are lucky enough. They could actually make their reservations against the hounding of the media public through the media itself, in their case, a TV channel.

Jammu's beauty Anara Gupta had also hit the headlines on the basis of inputs fed by the local police to the media to satiate the hunger of sensation-starved readers and viewers. The latest in the line was of course the four-year-old 'exclusive taped conversation' between Salman Khan and Aishwaraya Rai which were proved to be totally fake.

These are only a few cases which illustrate instances of 'trial by media'.

"Do such trials amount to public service is a question to be introspected by the media itself", J D Kapoor, a judge of the Delhi High Court had said while dealing with the Rs 64 crore Bofors howitzer deal case involving the Hinduja brothers.

Justice Kapoor directly aimed at the police, the CBI and other investigating agencies, who he said had been "encouraging publicity by holding press conferences and accompanying journalists and television crews during investigation of crime''.

"After hogging publicity and holding the person guilty in the eyes of public, the police and the CBI go into a soporific slumber and take years in filing the chargesheet and thereafter several years are taken in the trial," he added.

"All this is done in the interest of freedom of communication and right to information, little realising that right to fair trial is equally valuable," it said.

'Trial by media' is a phrase which gained popularity in the late 20th century and early 21st century. It describes the impact of television and newspaper coverage on a person's reputation by creating a widespread perception of guilt, regardless of any verdict in a court of law.

One of the first celebrities who faced trial by media was Fatty Arbuckle but was acquitted by the court. Yet he lost his job and reputation. In the US, Rodney King's trial can't be forgotten in this context.

And then there was Myra Hindley. She died in 2002 after a British court acquitted her but the media pointed the needle of suspicion at her. She was already imprisoned for 30 years. But let's not forget that at times media intervention has helped families of victims get justice.