As Newspapers Struggle, Justice Needs a New Watchdog

Adam Liptak writes today in the New York Times about the decline in actions by newspapers to keep the legal process public and open. Although his article is mostly sourced by anecdotes and may err a bit on the side of sky-is-falling media pessimism, it makes an important point. Traditionally in the U.S., newspapers and media companies have served as a check not only on democracy in general but also on the criminal justice process.

Judges often have the inclination to restrict public – and media – access to legal proceedings, even when their restrictions may cross the Constitution. In the past, reporters have kept them honest, with newspapers usually taking the lead. With cutbacks in newsrooms across the country, this role of newspapers has been slashed and the health of our justice system has suffered.

A related NY Times story in May mourned the decline of investigative reporting as a means of uncovering cases of wrongful conviction. When newspapers cut their investigation budgets, the papers will uncover fewer instances of injustice. Yesterday’s New Yorker story on the wrongful execution of Cameron Todd Willingham is a perfect example of the kind of reporting that used to be more frequent. The article itself provides the most conclusive proof yet in the history of the U.S. that an innocent person was executed. Do you need more proof that the media plays an important role in this process?

This ain’t over yet, though. The web is coming to the rescue.

Not everyone is a pessimist when it comes to the future of media. The web offers myriad new opportunities for transparency, awareness and action – you’re reading this post at one of these new media models. I tend to believe that media opportunities on the web haven’t been fully realized yet, and that there’s more in store.

I also believe social enterprise, crowd-funding and public support will have a place in the new media landscape. Crowd-funded reporting like that at spot.us could play a big role in the future of court-watching, as will philanthropy-backed models like ProPublica.

Check out Free Press' Save the News campaign for some food for thought on these issues. If you’re into this stuff, you might also enjoy watching the video of a panel discussion I attended at the recent Netroots Nation conference in Pittsburg on “Democracy After Newspapers” featuring thinkers Jay Rosen and Persephone Miel among others.

Those of us interested in reforming our broken criminal justice system and exposing cases of injustice should be watching these changes in the media closely and working hard to support web media as it grows to fill the vacuum and, hopefully,  becomes our next criminal justice watchdog.

Photo by daquellamanera