Media Coverage of Criminal Proceedings: Case Study Guidelines

The objective of this methodology is to provide a set of guidelines for identification, evaluation and presentation in a structured and comparable manner of actual court cases, their media coverage and the impact of this coverage on those involved in the proceedings (with a special focus on the suspect or accused person).

The collection and review of exemplary cases of media coverage of criminal proceedings is one of the key components of the project and is linked to each of the project’s overall goals: (1) to analyse the impact of the online media coverage of criminal cases on the personal and social life of suspects and accused persons, their families, and other members of their social networks; (2) to develop and promote standards for judicial and law enforcement authorities on how to publicly disclose information about criminal proceedings online without violating the presumption of innocence; and (3) to develop and promote ethical guidelines for the media on how to report on criminal cases online without infringing upon the rights of suspects and accused.

Full text (in English)