Media — Meaning, Characteristics, Functions, Mass media andits impact

A television channel names an accused before trial and the whole country decides guilt before a single witness is examined. That is not just bad journalism — it is the collision between mass media as a social institution and the presumption of innocence that criminal law is built on. Contempt of court, the sub judice rule and the ongoing debate about media trials all sit exactly where this topic and your later Criminal Procedure paper meet.

In two minutes

Mass media is the social institution that produces and distributes information, ideas and entertainment to a large, dispersed audience, performing real social functions — information, socialisation, agenda-setting, entertainment — while also raising serious concerns about influence over public opinion, privacy and the fairness of legal proceedings.

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