Social Media, Venue and the Right to a Fair Trial

Judicial failure to recognize social media\u27s influence on juror decision making has identifiable constitutional implications. The Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial demands that courts grant a defendant\u27s change of venue motion when media-generated pretrial publicity invades the unbiased sensibility of those who are asked to sit in judgment. Courts limit publicity suitable for granting a defendant\u27s motion to information culled from newspapers, radio, and television reports. Since about 2014, however, a handful of defendants have introduced social media posts to support their claims of unconstitutional bias in the community. Despite defendants\u27 introduction of negative social media in support of their claims, these same courts have yet to include social media in their evaluation of pretrial publicity bias. But social media is media, and as this article demonstrates, trial court judges faced with deciding change of venue motions have a constitutional obligation to include social media in their evaluations. The collective refusal to treat social media the same as biased television, radio, or print media, suggests an erroneous assumption on the part of lower courts that social media is somehow different. This article identifies three reasons as justification for dismissing social media: social media is too recent a medium to fully understand and analyze, social media is not a legitimate news source, and social media is opinion based. Application of pretrial social media publicity to long-standing Supreme Court change of venue doctrine, coupled with its exploration of scientific and social research on social media influence, debunk these lower court rationalizations. This article demonstrates that the reluctance of courts to consider social media evidence when deciding whether to grant a motion for a change of venue is a violation of any defendant\u27s Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial. On a larger scale, the article demands that courts embrace our new reality. Social media intersects with criminal justice, and our daily lives, in ways that demand judicial recognition

GENDERED DISCOURSE ON THE TRAIL TO THE WHITE HOUSE: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF MEDIA COVERAGE DURING HILLARY CLINTON’S 2015/16 CAMPAIGN TO BECOME DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE

This textual analysis examines online mainstream media coverage during Hillary Clinton’s 2015/16 presidential campaign. Previous research on female political candidates indicates that there are both subtle and unsubtle ways the media reinforces masculinity in the political realm. The results of the study provide a commentary on the internet as a cultural text and Feminist Communication Studies, suggesting that there may be a decrease in the institutionalized sexism in the reporting of mainstream online media. Although encompassing only a small snapshot of the 2015/16 presidential race, the results also suggest that media seemed to lack a category for Clinton – she is both an inside and outsider, sitting at the cusp of a transformative historical event

Judicial Candidates’ Right to Lie

, the Supreme Court struck down a law forbidding certain judicial campaign speech. A decade later, the Court in United States v. Alvarez ruled that factually false statements do not constitute categorically unprotected expression under the First Amendment. Together, these two holdings, along with the Court’s wider protection of political expression and disapproval of content-based restrictions, cast serious doubt on states’ ability to ban false and misleading speech by judicial candidates. Commonly known as the misrepresent clause, this prohibition has intuitive appeal in light of judges’ responsibilities and still exists in many states. Given the provision’s vulnerability to challenge, however, states may be able to avert chronic fabrication by judicial candidates only by removing its ultimate source—judicial elections themselves

To Hold the World in Contempt : The British Empire, War, and the Irish and Indian Nationalist Press, 1899-1914

The era between the close of the nineteenth century and the onset of the First World War witnessed a marked increase in radical agitation among Indian and Irish nationalists. The most outspoken political leaders of the day founded a series of widely circulated newspapers in India and Ireland, placing these editors in the enviable position of both reporting and creating the news. Nationalist journalists were in the vanguard of those pressing vocally for an independent India and Ireland, and together constituted an increasingly problematic contingent for the British Empire. The advanced-nationalist press in Ireland and the nationalist press in India took the lead in facilitating the exchange of provocative ideas—raising awareness of perceived imperial injustices, offering strategic advice, and cementing international solidarity. Irish and Indian press coverage of Britain’s imperial wars constituted one of the premier weapons in the nationalists’ arsenal, permitting them to build support for their ideology and forward their agenda in a manner both rapid and definitive. Directing their readers’ attention to conflicts overseas proved instructive in how the Empire dealt with those who resisted its policies, and also showcased how it conducted its affairs with its allies. As such, critical press coverage of the Boxer Rebellion, Boer War, Russo-Japanese War, and World War I bred disaffection for the Empire, while attempts by the Empire to suppress the critiques further alienated the public. This dissertation offers the first comparative analysis of the major nationalist press organs in India and Ireland, using the prism of war to illustrate the increasingly persuasive role of the press in promoting resistance to the Empire. It focuses on how the leading Indian and Irish editors not only fostered a nationalist agenda within their own countries, but also worked in concert to construct a global anti-imperialist platform. By highlighting the anti-imperial rhetoric of the nationalist press in India and Ireland and illuminating their strategies for attaining self-government, this study deepens understanding of the seeds of nationalism, making a contribution to comparative imperial scholarship, and demonstrating the power of the media to alter imperial dynamics and effect political change

FREEDOM AND CONSTRUCTION: NEW CONCEPTS OF FORM IN THE IMPROVISATIONS AND COMPOSITIONS OF KING CRIMSON

This thesis constructs a coherent system of analysis for the improvised and non-improvised music of the progressive rock band King Crimson, with the intention that the methodologies presented here for discussing collective improvisation should be applied to the music of other rock, jazz, and avant-garde groups. Borrowing methodology from the study of free and postmodern jazz, the thesis develops an analytical system that combines the use of intensity graphs (as developed by John Litweiler and Ingrid Monson) with traditional transcriptions and prose explanations. The intensity graphs are more complex than those created by Monson and Litweiler, as they chart the intensity of multiple instruments that are improvising simultaneously. The thesis compares the results of the intensity-graph analyses of King Crimson's improvisations with more conventional study of their pre-composed material dating from the years 1969-1974. Over the course of these five years, King Crimson's recordings reveal a growing understanding of the relationship between improvisation and composition, a significant emphasis on rhythm as a unifying factor in both composed and improvised music, and the development of several identifiable post-tonal harmonic styles (associated, respectively, with different members of the band). The recordings also expose the contributions of the band's various short-term members, most notably pianist Keith Tippett and percussionist Jamie Muir. The analyses in chapters VI and VII clearly link the harmonic language of King Crimson's compositions and that of their improvisations. They also reveal the presence of a leading instrument in most of the band's improvised pieces; as well as demonstrating that most such pieces can be analyzed as a struggle or negotiation between the players, beginning in apparent discord and ending with agreement upon a particular key and tempo. The final chapter then establishes the broad viability of the analytical method by applying it to the music of Sonic Youth, a more recent group from a considerably different musical tradition than King Crimson

Dan Forrest’s the Breath of Life: A Podium Guide With a Study of the Compositional Techniques and the Integration Of Texts Used to Mirror The Emotional Arc of The Human Life Cycle

Dan Forrest’s the breath of life is a contemporary composition the author believes will be performed numerous times in future years after the extensive physical and emotional effect the pandemic had on the world. Although composed prior to the pandemic, the breath of life could bring comfort and a salve to the hurt and pain of humankind caused by the pandemic but will also affect the emotional state of loss for years to come for all humanity. This work exhibits Forrest’s use of acousmatic electronics with choir and orchestra. Biblical texts as well as poetry written by three poets from a variety of historical time periods and countries are employed. Compositionally, his integration of human breath as an extended compositional technique rather than simply as a biological human function creates an artistic soundscape, uniquely supporting the “breath of life” aspect of this work. This document contains a choral conductor’s evaluation and study of Forrest’s compositional style as illustrated through analyses of the breath of life. Chapter I consists of biographical information about the composer, Dan Forrest, and an introduction to this piece, the breath of life. Chapter II contains backgrounds and analyses of the texts used in the breath of life. Chapter III—a discussion of musical form and composition construction—contains an analysis of the formal elements in each movement of the breath of life. It also examines Forrest’s views on melodic and harmonic elements as well as how he negotiates the complicated relationship between music and text. Chapter IV focuses on the different types of compositional techniques Forrest uses throughout this work. The final chapter contains performance considerations based on the analysis of the breath of life, a discussion of issues related to the conductor’s role in the preparation of the works, and other general conclusions. Through analysis, discussions, articles and interviews, this dissertation provides an overview and a detailed in-depth study of this work to aid future conductors in their preparations for performing this work

An Alternative Approach to Second Language Teaching

Language, as a universal human trait, is so second-nature to mankind, that its subtleties in interaction have often been taken as a matter of course. Deeply ingrained folklore about language has existed from the days of the ancients and persists into so-called ‘rational’ modern civilization. The affect associated with language and its role in distinguishing in- and out- groups can be annotated by historical reference; for example, the ancient Greeks used the word ‘baba’ to describe the babblings of those unfortunates not gifted with the gods’ own Greek tongue - hence the origin of the word ‘barbarian’. The supposed magical qualities of words, in spells and incantations, are thoroughly documented in anthropological studies. Today, we find numerous examples of the affect attached to words language wars, name-calling, the informal definition of a cultured person as one who can converse in a foreign language, etc. These illustrations merely point out the complex and often under-the-surface relationship between language and other phases of human activity. Research on language has not been confined to the sphere of any one discipline. One can be led into a myriad of viewpoints within the traditional disciplines and of course, philosophy. This paper tends to be somewhat eclectic in its orientation toward language, as often the approach of one discipline proves to inadequate in insight or restrictive in treatment

An Alternative Approach to Second Language Teaching

Language, as a universal human trait, is so second-nature to mankind, that its subtleties in interaction have often been taken as a matter of course. Deeply ingrained folklore about language has existed from the days of the ancients and persists into so-called ‘rational’ modern civilization. The affect associated with language and its role in distinguishing in- and out- groups can be annotated by historical reference; for example, the ancient Greeks used the word ‘baba’ to describe the babblings of those unfortunates not gifted with the gods’ own Greek tongue - hence the origin of the word ‘barbarian’. The supposed magical qualities of words, in spells and incantations, are thoroughly documented in anthropological studies. Today, we find numerous examples of the affect attached to words language wars, name-calling, the informal definition of a cultured person as one who can converse in a foreign language, etc. These illustrations merely point out the complex and often under-the-surface relationship between language and other phases of human activity. Research on language has not been confined to the sphere of any one discipline. One can be led into a myriad of viewpoints within the traditional disciplines and of course, philosophy. This paper tends to be somewhat eclectic in its orientation toward language, as often the approach of one discipline proves to inadequate in insight or restrictive in treatment