Yet coverage of trials sometimes has gotten excessive. Using attorneys as consultants to analyze court proceedings for national news programs has grown into a cottage industry. Experts on morning talk shows agonized over President Clinton s sexual indiscretions and the gestures of O.J. Simpson. To be sure, there have been low points in broadcast coverage of trials. That transaction became a trial issue when Smith s attorney used it to discredit her testimony in court.
Critics are afraid that television ignores substance and complexity and goes for the sensational.
Actually, the opposite may be true. Fears that the public will learn the wrong lessons about the way the judicial process works may be fears only of lawyers and judges. Television dramas since the days of Perry Mason have given us an unrealistic view of the American judicial system. Certainly, in real life there are bombastic attorneys, occasional last-minute witnesses, and a rare tearful confession on the witness stand. But not every 60 minutes.