It's an old saw of journalism which states: "Dog Bites Man is not a news story, because that's what dogs do. But Man Bites Dog is newsworthy because that is rare and different."
But that logic falls completely apart when it comes to media coverage of trials.
Exhibit A that is played out in ABSOLTUELY EVERY news story about a pending trial: "The defendant's attorney claimed his client was innocent."
That's like reporting that the sun rose in the morning, traffic was bad during the a.m. commute and sugar tastes sweet. In fact, there is no news value whatsoever in reporting on what a defense attorney says pre-trial. Ever. Their job is to get their client off the hook. That job can only be done by professing innocence. And of course they will do there job with no regard for the truth.
So why interview them at all? Because by doing so, the media achieves balance, but more importantly they have some content.
It's a ridiculous dance the media do every time the is a high profile trial. And we all listen to it.
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