On Valentine's Day 2013, double-amputee and paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius shot and killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in what he continues to maintain was a tragic accident.
Yesterday, Pistorius took the stand in Pretoria, South Africa where he began his testimony with a shaky apology to Steenkamp's friends and relatives in a video that is now available on almost every international news site. An entire South African television channel has been devoted to coverage of the trial.
Pistorius is not the first celebrity to have made the transition from People Magazine's 'They're just like you!' section to front page of the The New York Times due to a high-profile trial. In 1994, NFL star OJ Simpson was accused of murdering ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Though he was eventually acquitted, Simpson's 1995 trial was followed every step of the way by the American public. More recently, even non-celebrities have been made infamous by their high-profile trials and their coverage via print and online media. Two well-known examples of this are Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman.
When British courtrooms first opened their doors to TV coverage in 2012, a BBC article titled, "Televising trials: What can be learned from the US?" was written. In it, a Victim Support spokesman is quoted as saying, "The justice system does need to be more transparent and accessible. But this does not mean that court cases should become a new form of reality TV."
This editorial board agrees.
While "Judge Judy" and "The People's Court" are, in fact, reality TV shows taking place in courtrooms the real-life trials of Pistorius and the like should be treated very differently. Both the news media and the American public have a tendency to take high-profile trials and treat them as entertainment.
As the editorial board of a college newspaper, we whole-heartedly believe in the necessity of freedom of the press. Reporters, as well as recording devices and cameras, should most definitely be allowed in courtrooms. However, the media must be especially cautious in its distribution of this kind of news, and readers must be aware of how they digest it.
News media should not resort to shock mentality in order to sell newspapers or get website hits. Sensationalism drives readership, there's no denying it. Even at The DePauw we have most probably been guilty of it. However, should Casey Anthony have been so nationally recognizable-and hated-that a "look-alike" in Oklahoma was attacked?
Sensationalism is all well and good for former Judge Joe Brown, but hard-hitting journalists and their audiences could stand to do without it. Oscar Pistorius and the family of Reeva Steenkamp probably could, too.