The Impact of Legally Relevant Media Exposure on Criminal Juror Decision-Making

Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Groscup

Exposure to various forms of media can potentially impact decision-making by jurors in criminal trials. Cases like the highly publicized Casey Anthony trial, in which jurors’ media exposure might have affected the verdict, highlight the importance of understanding what messages jurors receive from the media and how those messages might influence their perceptions of trial participants and evidence. This chapter first explores research on the content of legally relevant news media, reality television, and scripted television dramas to better understand the messages the media might be delivering. Next, it reviews research suggesting how various media sources influence the development of legally relevant attitudes and, in turn, juror decision-making. The chapter then investigates the media’s direct influence on juror decision-making, focusing particularly on the CSI Effect. Finally, it discusses recommendations for jury system reform that might decrease media influence as well as future research directions.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Bientzle ◽  
Marie Eggeling ◽  
Simone Korger ◽  
Joachim Kimmerle

BACKGROUND: Successful shared decision making (SDM) in clinical practice requires that future clinicians learn to appreciate the value of patient participation as early as in their medical training. Narratives, such as patient testimonials, have been successfully used to support patients’ decision-making process. Previous research suggests that narratives may also be used for increasing clinicians’ empathy and responsiveness in medical consultations. However, so far, no studies have investigated the benefits of narratives for conveying the relevance of SDM to medical students.METHODS: In this randomized controlled experiment, N = 167 medical students were put into a scenario where they prepared for medical consultation with a patient having Parkinson disease. After receiving general information, participants read either a narrative patient testimonial or a fact-based information text. We measured their perceptions of SDM, their control preferences (i.e., their priorities as to who should make the decision), and the time they intended to spend for the consultation.RESULTS: Participants in the narrative patient testimonial condition referred more strongly to the patient as the one who should make decisions than participants who read the information text. Participants who read the patient narrative also considered SDM in situations with more than one treatment option to be more important than participants in the information text condition. There were no group differences regarding their control preferences. Participants who read the patient testimonial indicated that they would schedule more time for the consultation.CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that narratives can potentially be useful for imparting the relevance of SDM and patient-centered values to medical students. We discuss possible causes of this effect and implications for training and future research.


2021 ◽  
pp. 194016122110252
Author(s):  
Sebastián Valenzuela ◽  
Daniel Halpern ◽  
Felipe Araneda

Despite widespread concern, research on the consequences of misinformation on people's attitudes is surprisingly scant. To fill in this gap, the current study examines the long-term relationship between misinformation and trust in the news media. Based on the reinforcing spirals model, we analyzed data from a three-wave panel survey collected in Chile between 2017 and 2019. We found a weak, over-time relationship between misinformation and media skepticism. Specifically, initial beliefs on factually dubious information were negatively correlated with subsequent levels of trust in the news media. Lower trust in the media, in turn, was related over time to higher levels of misinformation. However, we found no evidence of a reverse, parallel process where media trust shielded users against misinformation, further reinforcing trust in the news media. The lack of evidence of a downward spiral suggests that the corrosive effects of misinformation on attitudes toward the news media are less serious than originally suggested. We close with a discussion of directions for future research.


1997 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 738-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Willnat ◽  
Zhou He ◽  
Hao Xiaoming

This study examines the relationship between foreign media exposure and stereotypical perceptions of and feelings toward Americans in Hong Kong, Shenzhen (China), and Singapore. In line with previous studies, it finds that foreign TV consumption is related to negative stereotypical perceptions of and feelings toward Americans among all tested subjects. However, it also finds that different types of foreign media, such as newspaper, radio, video, and movies, exhibit very distinct and different relationships with perceptions of Americans by subjects from China and Singapore. It suggests that in studies of foreign media impact, attention should be given to specific foreign media channels, the actual content of the media, the impact of local media, the stages at which other cultures encounter the Western culture, and the cultural context of each society.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert Smekal ◽  
Jaroslav Benák ◽  
Monika Hanych ◽  
Ladislav Vyhnánek ◽  
Štěpán Janků

The book studies other than purely legal factors that influence the Czech Constitutional Court judges in their decision-making. The publication is inspired by foreign models of judicial decision-making and discusses their applicability in the Czech environment. More specifically, it focuses, for example, on the influence of the judge’s personality, collegiality, strategic decision-making or the impact of public opinion and the media. The book is based mainly on interviews with current constitutional judges.


Author(s):  
Pei Kuan Lai ◽  
S Nalliah ◽  
CL Teng ◽  
NLP Chen

Background: Impact in research encompasses health, economic, and cultural benefits beyond adding to the knowledge base. Funders are under immense pressure to be accountable for the paybacks from funded research.Aims and objectives: The aim of this study was to look into the impact of funded biomedical research between the years 2005 and 2015 in Malaysia from the aspects of knowledge production, research targeting and capacity building, as well as health system policy and decision making.Methods: This study employed a convergent parallel mixed-methods research design. Biomedical projects related to breast cancer, coronary heart disease, and dengue, funded by the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), and Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI) between the years 2005 and 2015, were included.Findings: From the questionnaire responses (n=58), on average each funded project managed to produce two outputs and one higher degree student. More than half (61.4%) of the funded projects led to subsequent future research. However, low citations in systematic reviews (10.3%), health policies (6.9%), and clinical practice guidelines (5.2%) were reported. In-depth interviews with the key opinion leaders also saw that most of the local research findings were found to be irrelevant to be adopted into policies by the policymakers.Discussion and conclusions: Paybacks on knowledge production as well as research targeting and capacity building had been achieved, but impact on health system policy and decision making had not been well attained, due to the lack of relevant research findings needed by the policymakers.<br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>Payback on knowledge production was achieved, as there had been a lot of new knowledge generated as captured in academic publications, conference proceedings, policy briefs, technical reports, and research highlights, which is important to advance the frontiers of knowledge.</li><br /><li>Payback on research targeting was achieved, with the current research leading to future study with identification of the knowledge gap and generation of new ideas for new research.</li><br /><li>Payback on capacity building was achieved with the training of researchers, building up research capacity and competencies, production of MSc and PhD graduates, promotion of lecturers, and development of new partnerships and networks.</li><br /><li>Impact on health system policy and decision making was not well attained. There had been a lack of relevant research data and findings being incorporated into policymaking, due to the basic and fundamental nature of most of the funded biomedical research in Malaysia.</li></ul>


2010 ◽  
pp. 67-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Basten

Much research has been conducted in the field of utilising the media - television and radio in particular - to promote particular public health messages. However, a burgeoning canon has examined how mass media can play a role in affecting change in fertility preferences and outcomes. In this paper we review these researches which have primarily focussed upon higher fertility settings. The impact of mass media presentation of families and children in low fertility settings has not yet been subject to rigorous sociological investigation so its impact can not be accurately inferred. However, given the pervasive nature of mass media and celebrity culture, we suggest that this is an important avenue for future research. We conclude that television plays a multi-faceted role in shaping individuals decision-making procedures concerning both demographic events and public health interactions. To illustrate this, we present a model which demonstrates a sliding scale of intent - but not impact - of various genres in order to understand the actual role of the media in shaping attitudes towards family size - either explicitly in terms of edutainment or implicitly as a forms of normalization.


Author(s):  
Alison Amanda James

The televising and/or any other form of broadcasting of judicial hearings and of criminal trials in particular is a controversial topic that has not only provoked debate and been argued about by academics, the media and the public for years, but continues to be argued about with few signs of abatement. Until recently South Africa had largely escaped becoming embroiled in this provocative topic, as the live broadcasting of criminal trials from South African courtrooms did not occur. The situation has changed, though, following the recent live televising of a full criminal trial – namely, the trial of South African Para-Olympic champion Oscar Pistorius. Given that this trial signalled South Africa's debut into the world of the live televising of criminal trial proceedings, the question is asked why exactly South Africa ventured into this contentious legal territory.It must be emphasised that the intention of this contribution is solely to explore the court's consideration of the constitutional mandates and rights that were contained in both the application and the opposing arguments pertaining to the live broadcast the trial of Oscar Pistorius. This note will not attempt to examine or even approach the far greater question of whether criminal trials should be televised or not, a topic better left to future research.      


Author(s):  
Nory B. Jones ◽  
Thomas R. Kochtanek

Practitioners and academics often assume that investments in technology will lead to productivity improvements. While the literature provides many examples of performance improvements resulting from adoption of different technologies, there is little evidence demonstrating specific, generalizable factors that contribute to these improvements. Furthermore, investment in technology does not guarantee effective implementation. This qualitative study examined the relationship between four classes of potential success factors on the adoption of a collaborative technology and whether they were related to performance improvements in a small service company. Users of a newly adopted collaborative technology were interviewed to explore which factors contributed to their initial adoption and subsequent effective use of this technology. The results show that several factors were strongly related to adoption and effective implementation. The impact on performance improvements was further explored. Results showed a qualitative link to several performance improvements including timesavings and improved decision-making. These results are discussed in terms of generalizability as well as suggestions for future research.


2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héctor Perla

AbstractThis article examines the determinants of public support for the use of military force. It puts forward a Framing Theory of Policy Objectives (FTPO), which contends that public support for military engagements depends on the public's perception of the policy's objective. However, it is difficult for the public to judge a policy's objective because they cannot directly observe a policy's true intention and influential political actors offer competing frames to define it. This framing contestation, carried out through the media, sets the public's decision-making reference point and determines whether the policy is perceived as seeking to avoid losses or to achieve gains. The FTPO predicts that support will increase when the public perceives policies as seeking to prevent losses and decrease when the public judges policies to be seeking gains. I operationalize and test the theory using content analysis of national news coverage and opinion polls of U.S. intervention in Central America during the 1980s. These framing effects are found to hold regardless of positive or negative valence of media coverage.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document