Media And The Criminal Justice System - 2592 Words

1) List the four most serious problems the media create for the criminal justice system through competent, incompetent and uninformed reporting. The media is one of the most common ways to get information. People can log on to a news website, they can obtain information through mobile online articles, and can watch the nightly news channel on various stations to learn about what is going on in their local city and in the world as a whole. There are dozens of news stations that people can obtain their information, such as CNN, Fox News, CBS News, and the local news station. However, the place in which these individuals obtain their information might not always be the most effective, most factual and accurate, or the most†¦show more content†¦This can cause serious problems within the criminal justice system. Social media plays a massive role in the way that news is allocated within society. However, because of this large role it plays, it also interferes with the investigatio n and results of a particular criminal action. One can imagine how swiftly he or she learned about the horrific shooting incident that happened in Sandy Hook Elementary School or the unfortunate killing of Trayvon Martin and how George Zimmerman was prosecuted based on the public’s online response. Customary news outlets, such as the radio or the newspaper, generally will depend on social media to not only scatter details and information regarding a case, but also to utilize as a source of interesting stories. One should also recall how often he or she has looked at crime videos on video websites like YouTube. They surface relatively quickly and gain popularity almost immediately. This aggressive social media manifestation can have a profound effect on the criminal justice system. Because of the presence that social media platforms have in our society today, there are specific social issues that are either discouraged or pushed, which result in the government being forced to behave differently than they used to, as information did not used to be so easily scattered. This is partly why the Vietnam War was so different from past wars; people gained information