Trail by Media

The Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA in 1996 would have been remembered as a tragedy, had it not been for one man, Richard Jewell. While a concert was going on, he found what he thought might be a bomb, and tried to clear out the area as much as possible, saving more than 100 lives. Instead the pike bomb killed only two and injured more than 100 people. However, Jewell is not remembered as a hero, but instead as a man accused of planting the bomb in the first place.

The police, when a situation like this occurs, must consider all options. They were investigating everyone and had received a tip that Jewell like attention from a former boss. However, because of their inability to keep the name under wraps, journalists knew that something was up with the guy they had been praising as a hero. The Senior Managing Editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution allowed an article to be printed saying that Jewell was in fact the bomber although there was no proof of this and they were unable to attribute this information to anyone conducting the investigation.

From there, other news agencies took it as fact and ran with it. All over the world, Jewell became known as the bomber. Part of this was due to the want of the FBI to find the bomber while the world spotlight was still on the United States, and so they continued on this lead. With the amount of journalist crowding around him constantly, he was forced to stay indoors or face accusatory questions from journalists. This made him look more guilty, and lead to more journalists and more stories about how he was guilty of this terrible crime. He was under surveillance for 88 days. After that time, it was decided, upon looking at the facts, that he was not a suspect in the investigation and was instead the hero of the story. It wasn’t until 2005 when Eric Rudolph plead guilty to the bombing that he was cleared completely. Some people still believe that he is the bomber.

The media has yet to learn that even under tense situations that claiming someone is a bomber without having proof is damaging to someone’s reputation. When people look up the people who were accused of  this crime, these are the stories that are going to pop up. It might be harder for them now to get a job, to have a life that isn’t in the shadow of being accused of something that they are innocent of. Richard Jewell had trouble finding a security job even after he was cleared of being the bomber. It took him over a year and he was paid only eight dollars an hour.

The sad thing about this story is that it still happens. In April 2013, while the investigation for the Boston Bombers was happening, a number of people were accused of the being the bombers. One was a Saudi national who was actually wounded by the blast.  He fit the image that American had of a Middle Eastern terrorist but it was proved that he was not the bomber. His picture was found online and put in many new stories. The next victim blamed was a 17 year old high school track star and his coach, who happened to be wearing baseball caps and have backpacks. Due to Reddit, an online website that created a forum, a theory went viral and the media picked it up. But the boy was innocent and not even under investigation.

I think what journalists need to learn from this story and from the accusations made during the investigation of the Boston Bombing is that people are innocent until proven guilty. If the courts of the United States holds that to be true, why is it that the media of the country cannot also do so? How can the media hold its head high and claim to report the truth, when they make accusations about innocent people  that damage them in the moment and for years to come. The media also has to understand the sway it has on people, especially in tense and uncertain times. In times like this, people want to know what is going on, if there is a suspect, and what is being done to catch the person. By throwing names out to the public, the media is creating a dangerous environment for the person and is slowing down the investigation. It is also not holding by their motto of reporting the truth. These people are not collateral damage on the road to catching a bomber or killer. They are innocent people with lives. The real criminal will be put on trial, we do not need the innocent suspects to have a trial by media.

by Lauren McArdle