The media on trial: An investigation into the media's portrayal of the law

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The relationship between the media and the law is an important one, especially in anadolescent democracy like South Africa. On the one hand the law has the power tocontrol the fundamental right to freedom of expression – the very core of the media'sexistence. On the other hand, however, the media are vital mechanisms through whichthe law can ensure that citizens know that justice is being done. The media are thereforealso powerful; having the ability to influence people's perceptions of and respect for thelaw.The relationship between the media and the law is characterised internationally byfrequent tensions and misunderstandings – a trend that has not escaped South Africa.Whereas some of these strains may be explained with reference to both the media andthe law's respective duties in a democracy; many problems are also caused as result ofmisunderstandings and inaccurate expectations of both parties' responsibilities in ademocracy. This study was thus launched from the premise that there is room and needfor improvement in the relationship between the media and the law.The way in which citizens perceive the law (or legal consciousness) was investigated; aswere the sources of such perceptions. Making use of a questionnaire distributed to asample of students at two Western Cape universities, it was established that students'opinions of lawyers and judicial officers are generally positive, but that they do not havemuch confidence in the efficacy of the South African legal system. The feedback alsoindicates that news and popular media are the most important sources of such opinionsof the law – a context-specific finding that echoes similar results obtained internationally.Popular media as an important source of perceptions give rise to several concerns. Notonly do citizens struggle to distinguish between fact and fiction in popular media; butmost of the popular (legally-themed) media available in South Africa are furthermoreimported from the USA. This tendency, defined in this study as the Hollywoodization ofSouth African law, lead to concerns that citizens may not only be basing their opinions ofthe law on fiction; but also that such media are premised on a very different (American)legal system from our own.The importance of news media as a source was investigated more specifically by makinguse of a case study (the Inge Lotz/ Fred van der Vyver story). The way in which pre-trialpublicity and court reporting may lead to the sacrifice of a defendant's right to a fair trialwas investigated by looking at the influences of news media coverage on the partiesinvolved; the presiding officers, assessors and witnesses; and the perceptions layaudiences may have of the specific case and (consequently) the law in general.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University