For more information, you can read my full research paper on the
fargasoncase.blogspot.com
In my research for my senior project, I have found that the media has a lot more impact and influence on people’s opinions, and in this instance, the criminal justice system. There are several instances in which the media portrayed events of the case differently than what Charles Fargason, the father of the murdered child, Taylor, and the ex-husband of Teresa, had said.
Among many media outlets that zeroed in on the Teresa Fargason case for news and entertainment purposes are 13WMAZ, Inside Edition, Court TV, and USA. I conducted a telephone interview with Charles Fargason, Teresa’s ex-husband and in my interview with him; he was profoundly upset with a news anchor from WMAZ, Mary Terese. He told me that she had double-crossed him because “she did not do her documentary like she said she was going to do” (Fargason). It was evident that he was upset as we continued “She wanted to talk to me about Taylor, except she had this lawyer that was on TV every night from the family” (Fargason). He said that “She was doing this little thing for about a week on TV and she’d say a little bit about the story” (Fargason). Interestingly enough, “What I said, she didn’t put on air” (Fargason). He then stated that, “She put on TV what she wanted to put on TV” (Fargason). Surprisingly, “That stuff about her sister that I told you about, she didn’t say none of that on TV” (Fargason).
The important details that she did not address to the public were the details of Teresa’s younger sister, Bobby Anne, saying that she thought Teresa was involved with Taylor’s murder. Teresa had two sisters. When the investigators finally approached Bobby Anne, her husband said that Bobby Anne had been waiting for them to question her. She told them that she believed Teresa was involved because Teresa asked her to wash Taylor’s sheets and pillowcase before the cops arrived that night. Bobby Anne did not do it, so the other sister did. This was a crucial piece of evidence that Charles wanted to share, but Mary Terese did not air that information: “The moment that stuff aired, she wouldn’t answer that phone no more” (Fargason) [and] “She knew she had double-crossed me” (Fargason).
As far as the sister’s statements go, when the trial was happening, the Georgia State Patrol and The Alabama State Patrol were searching for the sisters and their husbands so that they could appear in court. Meanwhile, Teresa was convicted of the crime. Charles said that one of the sister’s husbands called his work to ask for the pay that he had missed while he had been at court and his boss told him that he knew he did not go to court because law enforcement was searching for him and called looking for him. The boss asked where he had been. The husband said he was where the lawyers told him to go. Fargason says that they were hid out, and that was never brought up in court or by the media. The only thing that was brought up about this is that when the judge told Teresa’s lawyer, Frank Childs, that he better not find out that Childs “had anything to do with hiding them kids out” (Fargason ).
Inside Edition called Mr. Fargason and wanted an interview. He said, “No, what you want is to interview about Teresa being in prison” (Fargason). Inside Edition told Mr. Fargason that that was right. Mr. Fargason hung up on her. She called right back and said that she can just call all the TV stations in Macon and get filed footage of him. Mr. Fargason then called Liz Jarvis at WMAZ. Mr. Fargason said that she was good to him. He told her what was going on and asked for his number so she could call him right back. Five minutes later, she called Mr. Fargason back and told him that he had nothing to worry about. The news stations were not going to give out any information.
I have to admit that at first, when I was researching the evidence of the case, I believed that I could prove Teresa’s innocence and prove that it was the media that influenced the public on her guilt. What I realized later in my research was that the media did indeed have an influence but it was not what I expected. They had an influence on me believing that Teresa was innocent in the way that I saw they portrayed the case. I recently read an interesting quote by Sara Sun Beale that can relate to this topic and it says, “The news media are not mirrors, simply reflecting events in society. Rather, media content is shaped by economic and marketing considerations that frequently override traditional journalistic criteria for newsworthiness” (Beale).
It has been nearly 17 years after the murder and the media was still influencing opinions and they were mine. I am glad this happened though, because it just proves my point that the media does have a strong influence on our opinions and decisions, and to finish with a quote from a guy that knows about media, Marshall McLuhan says that “All media work us over completely” (McLuhan). He then says that “They are so persuasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered” (McLuhan).
Beale, Sara Sun, "The News Media’s Influence on Criminal Justice Policy: How Market-Driven News Promotes Punitiveness" . William & Mary Law Review, Vol. 48, pp. 397-418, 2006 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=964647
Fargason, Charles. Telephone interview. 12 Mar. 2007.
McLuhan, Marshall, Quentin Fiore, and Jerome Agel. The Medium is the Massage. New York: Random House, 1967.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
News Media and Criminal Justice Blog/Research
For more information on this case, you can read my full research paper at FargasonCase.Blogspot.com
In my research for my senior project, I have found that the media has a lot more impact and influence on people’s opinions, and in this instance, the criminal justice system. There are several instances in which the media portrayed events of the case differently than what Charles Fargason, the father of the murdered child, Taylor, and the ex-husband of Teresa, had said.
Among many media outlets that zeroed in on the Teresa Fargason case for news and entertainment purposes are 13WMAZ, Inside Edition, Court TV, and USA. I conducted a telephone interview with Charles Fargason, Teresa’s ex-husband and in my interview with him; he was profoundly upset with a news anchor from WMAZ, Mary Terese. He told me that she had double-crossed him because “she did not do her documentary like she said she was going to do” (Fargason). It was evident that he was upset as we continued “She wanted to talk to me about Taylor, except she had this lawyer that was on TV every night from the family” (Fargason). He said that “She was doing this little thing for about a week on TV and she’d say a little bit about the story” (Fargason). Interestingly enough, “What I said, she didn’t put on air” (Fargason). He then stated that, “She put on TV what she wanted to put on TV” (Fargason). Surprisingly, “That stuff about her sister that I told you about, she didn’t say none of that on TV” (Fargason).
The important details that she did not address to the public were the details of Teresa’s younger sister, Bobby Anne, saying that she thought Teresa was involved with Taylor’s murder. Teresa had two sisters. When the investigators finally approached Bobby Anne, her husband said that Bobby Anne had been waiting for them to question her. She told them that she believed Teresa was involved because Teresa asked her to wash Taylor’s sheets and pillowcase before the cops arrived that night. Bobby Anne did not do it, so the other sister did. This was a crucial piece of evidence that Charles wanted to share, but Mary Terese did not air that information: “The moment that stuff aired, she wouldn’t answer that phone no more” (Fargason) [and] “She knew she had double-crossed me” (Fargason).
As far as the sister’s statements go, when the trial was happening, the Georgia State Patrol and The Alabama State Patrol were searching for the sisters and their husbands so that they could appear in court. Meanwhile, Teresa was convicted of the crime. Charles said that one of the sister’s husbands called his work to ask for the pay that he had missed while he had been at court and his boss told him that he knew he did not go to court because law enforcement was searching for him and called looking for him. The boss asked where he had been. The husband said he was where the lawyers told him to go. Fargason says that they were hid out, and that was never brought up in court or by the media. The only thing that was brought up about this is that when the judge told Teresa’s lawyer, Frank Childs, that he better not find out that Childs “had anything to do with hiding them kids out” (Fargason ).
Inside Edition called Mr. Fargason and wanted an interview. He said, “No, what you want is to interview about Teresa being in prison” (Fargason). Inside Edition told Mr. Fargason that that was right. Mr. Fargason hung up on her. She called right back and said that she can just call all the TV stations in Macon and get filed footage of him. Mr. Fargason then called Liz Jarvis at WMAZ. Mr. Fargason said that she was good to him. He told her what was going on and asked for his number so she could call him right back. Five minutes later, she called Mr. Fargason back and told him that he had nothing to worry about. The news stations were not going to give out any information.
I have to admit that at first, when I was researching the evidence of the case, I believed that I could prove Teresa’s innocence and prove that it was the media that influenced the public on her guilt. What I realized later in my research was that the media did indeed have an influence but it was not what I expected. They had an influence on me believing that Teresa was innocent in the way that I saw they portrayed the case. I recently read an interesting quote by Sara Sun Beale that can relate to this topic and it says, “The news media are not mirrors, simply reflecting events in society. Rather, media content is shaped by economic and marketing considerations that frequently override traditional journalistic criteria for newsworthiness” (Beale).
It has been nearly 17 years after the murder and the media was still influencing opinions and they were mine. I am glad this happened though, because it just proves my point that the media does have a strong influence on our opinions and decisions, and to finish with a quote from a guy that knows about media, Marshall McLuhan says that “All media work us over completely” (McLuhan). He then says that “They are so persuasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered” (McLuhan).
Beale, Sara Sun, "The News Media’s Influence on Criminal Justice Policy: How Market-Driven News Promotes Punitiveness" . William & Mary Law Review, Vol. 48, pp. 397-418, 2006 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=964647
Fargason, Charles. Telephone interview. 12 Mar. 2007.
McLuhan, Marshall, Quentin Fiore, and Jerome Agel. The Medium is the Massage. New York: Random House, 1967.
In my research for my senior project, I have found that the media has a lot more impact and influence on people’s opinions, and in this instance, the criminal justice system. There are several instances in which the media portrayed events of the case differently than what Charles Fargason, the father of the murdered child, Taylor, and the ex-husband of Teresa, had said.
Among many media outlets that zeroed in on the Teresa Fargason case for news and entertainment purposes are 13WMAZ, Inside Edition, Court TV, and USA. I conducted a telephone interview with Charles Fargason, Teresa’s ex-husband and in my interview with him; he was profoundly upset with a news anchor from WMAZ, Mary Terese. He told me that she had double-crossed him because “she did not do her documentary like she said she was going to do” (Fargason). It was evident that he was upset as we continued “She wanted to talk to me about Taylor, except she had this lawyer that was on TV every night from the family” (Fargason). He said that “She was doing this little thing for about a week on TV and she’d say a little bit about the story” (Fargason). Interestingly enough, “What I said, she didn’t put on air” (Fargason). He then stated that, “She put on TV what she wanted to put on TV” (Fargason). Surprisingly, “That stuff about her sister that I told you about, she didn’t say none of that on TV” (Fargason).
The important details that she did not address to the public were the details of Teresa’s younger sister, Bobby Anne, saying that she thought Teresa was involved with Taylor’s murder. Teresa had two sisters. When the investigators finally approached Bobby Anne, her husband said that Bobby Anne had been waiting for them to question her. She told them that she believed Teresa was involved because Teresa asked her to wash Taylor’s sheets and pillowcase before the cops arrived that night. Bobby Anne did not do it, so the other sister did. This was a crucial piece of evidence that Charles wanted to share, but Mary Terese did not air that information: “The moment that stuff aired, she wouldn’t answer that phone no more” (Fargason) [and] “She knew she had double-crossed me” (Fargason).
As far as the sister’s statements go, when the trial was happening, the Georgia State Patrol and The Alabama State Patrol were searching for the sisters and their husbands so that they could appear in court. Meanwhile, Teresa was convicted of the crime. Charles said that one of the sister’s husbands called his work to ask for the pay that he had missed while he had been at court and his boss told him that he knew he did not go to court because law enforcement was searching for him and called looking for him. The boss asked where he had been. The husband said he was where the lawyers told him to go. Fargason says that they were hid out, and that was never brought up in court or by the media. The only thing that was brought up about this is that when the judge told Teresa’s lawyer, Frank Childs, that he better not find out that Childs “had anything to do with hiding them kids out” (Fargason ).
Inside Edition called Mr. Fargason and wanted an interview. He said, “No, what you want is to interview about Teresa being in prison” (Fargason). Inside Edition told Mr. Fargason that that was right. Mr. Fargason hung up on her. She called right back and said that she can just call all the TV stations in Macon and get filed footage of him. Mr. Fargason then called Liz Jarvis at WMAZ. Mr. Fargason said that she was good to him. He told her what was going on and asked for his number so she could call him right back. Five minutes later, she called Mr. Fargason back and told him that he had nothing to worry about. The news stations were not going to give out any information.
I have to admit that at first, when I was researching the evidence of the case, I believed that I could prove Teresa’s innocence and prove that it was the media that influenced the public on her guilt. What I realized later in my research was that the media did indeed have an influence but it was not what I expected. They had an influence on me believing that Teresa was innocent in the way that I saw they portrayed the case. I recently read an interesting quote by Sara Sun Beale that can relate to this topic and it says, “The news media are not mirrors, simply reflecting events in society. Rather, media content is shaped by economic and marketing considerations that frequently override traditional journalistic criteria for newsworthiness” (Beale).
It has been nearly 17 years after the murder and the media was still influencing opinions and they were mine. I am glad this happened though, because it just proves my point that the media does have a strong influence on our opinions and decisions, and to finish with a quote from a guy that knows about media, Marshall McLuhan says that “All media work us over completely” (McLuhan). He then says that “They are so persuasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered” (McLuhan).
Beale, Sara Sun, "The News Media’s Influence on Criminal Justice Policy: How Market-Driven News Promotes Punitiveness" . William & Mary Law Review, Vol. 48, pp. 397-418, 2006 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=964647
Fargason, Charles. Telephone interview. 12 Mar. 2007.
McLuhan, Marshall, Quentin Fiore, and Jerome Agel. The Medium is the Massage. New York: Random House, 1967.
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