What catapults a case into the media spotlight? Who is responsible for focusing media and public attention on a particular case? Once a case gains highprofile status, what are the professional and ethical roles and responsibilities of members of the media, the bar, and the institutions involved? How do media balance their First Amendment right to watch over the operation of government with the rights of the accused?

These are the questions to be examined during this twoday interdisciplinary conference. Experts from various fields will consider how the presence of certain core themesincluding race, gender, class, and athleticscan turn an otherwise everyday case into a highprofile one. In so doing, they will examine the legal issues common to such cases, including First Amendment rights of free speech and of the press; ethical rules governing prosecutors, defense counsel, judges, and journalists; the desirability of public access to and scrutiny of the justice system; and the needs of institutions and individuals to defend themselves and their reputations in the face of intense public and media scrutiny.

Recorded on September 28, 2007.

Panel titled: A "Fred Friendly" Roundtable.

Conference title: Court of Public Opinion: The Practice & Ethics of Trying Cases in the Media (2007)

Appearing: Jack Ford (CourtTV News), moderator ; Peter Gilchrist (District Attorney, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina), Margaret A. Jablonski (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Beth Karas (CourtTV News), Kerstin Kimel (Duke University), David F. Levi (Duke Law), Lawrence G. McMichael (Dilworth Paxson LLP), Ellen W. Reckhow (Durham County Board of Commissioners), Sonja Steptoe (Time Magazine), Ron Wellman (Wake Forest University), Elliott Wolf T'08 (Duke University).