美国媒体视野中的民事诉讼

Civil Litigation in the Eyes of US Media

媒体对民事诉讼制度具有强大的影响力,它不仅影响特定情况下民事诉讼裁判的作出,也影响更广泛的民事诉讼制度,因为媒体的报道影响民事诉讼中不同参与者决定的作出。本文探讨媒体对民事诉讼所作报道的本质,公众和法律从业者对民事诉讼制度的看法,以及媒体报道对于陪审团成员、法官、民事诉讼当事人和政策决策者在作出有关决定时的潜在影响。总体而言,该研究表明,目前美国媒体对民事诉讼的报道大多都曲解了事实,并在不同角度影响了人们对民事诉讼制度的认识,也影响了民事诉讼结果的作出。然而,现有的研究仍有很多空白需要填补。

The news media have the potential to act as a powerful influence on the civil litigation system, influencing decision making in particular cases and on the system more generally as media re- ports influence the decision making of various participants in the system. This paper discusses the nature of media reporting on civil litigation, perceptions of the civil litigation system held by the public and le- gal actors, and the potential influence of news reporting about civil litigation on the decision making of jurors, judges, civil litigants, and policymakers. Overall, the research suggests that news reporting of civil litigation present a systematically distorted picture of civil litigation and that this reporting can influ- ence perceptions and outcomes of civil litigation in various ways. However, there are many gaps in the existing research that need to be filled.