The Courts, Public Opinion and the Media

Abstract

Courts reach their decisions using specialised technical language. This limits courts' ability to shape public opinion. Most of what publics know or believe about courts comes through the media—but courts rely for their effectiveness upon a reservoir of latent public support. We therefore need to know more about how public opinion in relation to courts is shaped, and how, if at all, courts are able to use particular strategies (press releases, on-demand footage of court judgments/hearings) to affect public opinion directly or indirectly. We welcome Papers which are able to analyse how courts have been portrayed in the media, and in particular how courts' own actions are able to shape this portrayal.