On July 27, 1996, spectators of the Atlanta Summer Olympics
in Atlanta, Ga. hectically scrambled away from the terrorizing sound of a
nearby explosion, screaming. Dark smoke
rose from one of the buildings.
The explosion, which caused two
deaths and 111 injuries, quickly became the focus of media attention. The press thus found and “mobbed” Richard
Jewell, a security guard who has helped minimize the number of fatalities and
injuries by clearing the surrounding area of spectators after he noticed the suspicious
bag containing the bomb.
Initially praised as a hero, the
stories took a turn for the worse as the search for a suspect intensified. For the next few months, Jewell would be
recognized as the bomber by the public, due to suspicion and interrogation by
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but also because of the lack of skepticism
and objectivity practiced by the media, which had an unfortunate lasting
impact. The stigma that was forced upon
Jewell would follow him for the rest of his life.
In a public statement by Jewell
that we saw in the 20-minute documentary “Judging Jewell,” he declared that the
media and the FBI acted irresponsibly “in a rush to fulfill their own personal
agendas.” Other journalists remorsefully
agreed with Jewell in the documentary.
For example, Tom Brokaw said he could not say the media was ever
skeptical enough in covering the Jewell case.
Because of the faulty conduct of
journalists, which was highlighted in the documentary, an innocent man earned
the reputation as a terrorist. The
documentary is a reminder of the power that the media has to influence the
topics and the lives of the people that they report on, an influence that can
leave both positive and negative impacts.
For Jewell, the impact of media coverage was highly negative and could
not be erased.
Unfortunately, even after the
actual bomber, Eric Rudolph, had been convicted, people still remember Jewell
not as a hero, but as a man who was suspected of being the bomber. His wife said that some people continued to
suspect the Jewell was in fact the bomber, but had gotten away with his crime,
an opinion which she said emotionally hurt Jewell very much.
Jewell was also unable to find
employment in law employment for over a year following the incident. One of the reporters interviewed in the
documentary commented that he “basically lived in the dark” for the time that
he was considered the main suspect, because the media “had cameras trained on
every window of his apartment.”
What is worse is that the American
media were not the only participants.
Because the event was so significant, it received coverage by foreign
media as well, such as the BBC, giving him a poor reputation across the globe.
Given how much the coverage of him
changed his life, it seems that the headline “Suspicion may stain Jewell’s life
for years,” completely came true.
Although the power of the media can be beneficial to our country, acting
as a watchdog over selfish politicians and making people aware of problems that
need to be changed, Jewell’s case illustrates the idea that many people in the
public believe, that the media rushes to get a story to the point that they are
careless as to whether their facts are straight. The media essentially convicted him
regardless of his potential innocence.
His case should be viewed as a
reminder to follow good journalistic principles. The media must focus on maintaining
objectivity and skepticism, no matter how tempting it may be to want to find an
answer right away.
Furthermore, Jewell’s story
illustrated what we learned about covering criminals from Amherst Police
Detective Jamie Reardon. The press
shouldn’t report on someone until after they have been arrested or arraigned in
court and charges have been filed.
Otherwise they put themselves at risk of damaging the reputations of
innocent people and can also face the accusation of writing libel.
In the future, we can only hope
that the press will practice good, fair journalism so that innocent people like
Jewell don’t become victims of an institution originally designed for the
benefit of the people.
By Shelby Ashline
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