From Law to Content in the New Media Marketplace

Abstract

For most of our history, instrumental legal materials - from criminal complaints, to briefs, to judicial opinions - were largely hidden from public view. In recent years, these materials have become far more widely available. While the first moves towards accessibility started with Westlaw and Lexis, the development of new media technology accelerated this trend. In this new media marketplace, legal materials - typically obtained free, unencumbered by copyright - provide saleable content. Thus, millions of people bought, and freely downloaded, Kenneth Starr's indictment of the President. News sites routinely provide links to judicial opinions and high profile indictments. Networks are dedicated to extended coverage of trials and legislative debates. And sites like The Smoking Gun offer web surfers the chance to view quirky court documents culled from courthouses across the nation. In her book, The Starr Report Disrobed, Fedwa Malti Douglas conducts a textual analysis of the Starr Report. This essay reviews Douglas' book and argues that her project, the deconstruction of a legal text as if it were literature, is entirely natural in this new legal environment. First, authors (such as judges) now take advantage of their more visible pulpit to produce opinions designed to entertain. Second, even when authors deny that they intend to produce entertainment, readers may question authors' true instrumental purposes. For example, many wondered whether the vast amount of sex in the Starr Report was designed to build a strong case or to titillate and excite a large audience. Finally, this essay suggests that as the line between law and entertainment blurs, the ability of lawyers and legal institutions to effect change (or maintain order) may be compromised.