Over the last week, the Lehrmann trial grabbed a lot of social media attention, unfortunately mostly for the wrong reasons. Many social media users have been calling out the mainstream media for their biased reporting of the rape trial and framing Brittany Higgins in a negative light - owning up to the name ‘accountability media’ some have given to social media platforms for enabling users to demand transparency and accountability. The media’s influence on public attitudes is indisputable but it becomes a matter of serious concern when journalism ethics are almost brazenly thrown out of the window. In her piece, Monica Attard reflects on the way the mainstream media have reported the rape trial over the last week.
Meanwhile, CMT research fellow Michael Davis takes us to a US court, where the jurors ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay a whooping nearly US$1 billion for promoting the lie that the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings – the deadliest school shootings in the history of the US – never happened.
In other news, the Australian High Court has appointed Justice Jayne Jagot as its 56th justice, becoming the seventh woman appointed to the Court. Sacha Molitorisz writes about the first time Australia’s highest court has had a female-majority bench, and what it may mean for the future of media law in the country.
No doubt that social media has its ‘virtuous side’, but its demons can be bigger and dangerous, and mis- and disinformation are certainly on top of that list. Next up, Stevie Zhang brings our attention to some of the misinformation discourse that has been circling around social media platforms about the upcoming Victorian state election. Last but not least, Sacha Molitorisz featured in Network Ten's documentary Mirror Mirror - Love + Hate, in which he answered questions about digital media, public interest, and the importance of trust.
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Ayesha Jehangir, CMT Postdoctoral Fellow