Jurors for Sale
2011-07-12 - by
Two of my PR friends considered it unethical for Raleigh PR exec Rick French to shop around the offer of “Juror Number Six” in the Casey Anthony trial to talk to the media – for $50,000.
Just to be contrary, I posed this contrary question: “What’s wrong with the jurors cashing in? Everybody else involved in this trash will cash in: Casey Anthony, her parents, her lawyers, the media, probably the prosecutors, maybe the judge – you name ‘em. Why shouldn’t the jurors, who had to be sequestered throughout and paid a heavy personal price, make some money?”
I got two thoughtful answers.
From one of the PR pros: “I think it is fundamentally wrong a PR professional to act as ‘agent’ to sell a story to the media. I know that is old fashioned. But it compromises the PR person with the media.”
And another answer from a lawyer, who says it should be illegal for a juror to sell his or her story: “You want jurors to reach a verdict they believe in, not a story they can sell.”
Jurors for Sale
2011-07-12/
Two of my PR friends considered it unethical for Raleigh PR exec Rick French to shop around the offer of “Juror Number Six” in the Casey Anthony trial to talk to the media – for $50,000.
Just to be contrary, I posed this contrary question: “What’s wrong with the jurors cashing in? Everybody else involved in this trash will cash in: Casey Anthony, her parents, her lawyers, the media, probably the prosecutors, maybe the judge – you name ‘em. Why shouldn’t the jurors, who had to be sequestered throughout and paid a heavy personal price, make some money?”
I got two thoughtful answers.
From one of the PR pros: “I think it is fundamentally wrong a PR professional to act as ‘agent’ to sell a story to the media. I know that is old fashioned. But it compromises the PR person with the media.”
And another answer from a lawyer, who says it should be illegal for a juror to sell his or her story: “You want jurors to reach a verdict they believe in, not a story they can sell.”