Opinion ID: 1810757
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Exploitation of the courts for commercial purposes as opposed to the performance of an educational function.

Text: Some of the opponents maintain that the electronic media is but an entertainment form without serious content and that editing practices not only eliminate any educational value but mislead the public as to the judicial process and the issues in a particular proceeding. We have been treated to the spectre of a three-minute segment coverage of the local trial sandwiched between a dog food commercial on the one end and a panty hose commercial on the other. That may be. However, nothing prohibits the print media from juxtaposing just such advertisements against its news story covering the same trial. Surely it has occurred. Just as surely the image and majesty of the judiciary has survived unsullied. We perceive no discernible difference in commercial exploitation of the courts by the electronic media as contrasted with the print media. As to the lack of serious content on the part of the electronic media, we must concede that much of its broadcast time is devoted to entertainment. However, so too is substantial space in newspapers and magazines devoted to cartoons, comics, sports, entertainment, advertising, and the like. Is a men's entertainment magazine more calculated to educate and less to entertain than the local television station? At best the answer to that question is a value judgment, but no one would seriously suggest that a reporter for such a magazine should be precluded from covering and reporting a trial because it is not intended to educate or inform the public  that it intends only to exploit the courts commercially. Furthermore, a medium which has brought us such events as the funeral of assassinated President John F. Kennedy, the landing of the first man to reach the moon, and the Hearings on Watergate and Related Activities Before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities cannot be said to be altogether without serious content. We must also concede that selective editing, with or without ulterior motive, can affect the accuracy with which a legal proceeding is reported. However, this is true of all segments of the media, including the sketch artist, and no one in recent memory has suggested that as a basis for denying the print media access to the courtroom. The judiciary's concern in matters of media content and editorial policy as it relates to judicial proceedings is limited to those words or depictions which present an imminent and serious threat to the administration of justice. [50]