Media distrust may be critical factor in libel case

In Sunday's Boston Globe, media writer Mark Jurkowitz offers a preview of the upcoming libel trial pitting Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Ernest B. Murphy against the Boston Herald. Jurkowitz focuses on how public distrust of the media may be a key factor in the trial's outcome. He writes:

In a trial expected to take several weeks, jurors will hear arguments about disputed quotations, confidential sources, and reporting techniques. Yet Murphy's case could also hinge on something more basic: how ordinary citizens on the jury feel about the motives and methods of journalists in an era of widespread public skepticism about the news media.