Trial by Media: Season 1

2020

Netflix's true crime docuseries puts a focus on the media and how it's influenced the verdicts of some of the... More

Netflix's true crime docuseries puts a focus on the media and how it's influenced the verdicts of some of the most dramatic trials in recent history. Executive produced by George Clooney and CNN law pundit Jeffrey Toobin.

Since televised courtroom coverage introduced a new emphasis on showmanship into the U.S. legal system, the courtroom has never been the same. Features cases reaching across different areas of the law including the Jenny Jones murder trials, Rod Blagojevich’s political fall, and the case of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant who was shot 41 times by police in New York City.

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Where to watch Trial by Media: Season 1

Trial by Media: Season 1 is available to stream in... More New Zealand now on Netflix.

Trial by Media: Season 1 episodes

Talk Show Murder

A man reveals his crush to a straight friend on... More "The Jenny Jones Show." Days later a murder occurs, leading to questions about the show's culpability.

Subway Vigilante

Bernard Goetz shoots four black teenagers on a New York... More City subway in 1984. His claim of self-defense sets off a controversial, tabloid-fueled trial.

41 Shots

After four white NYPD officers shoot the unarmed Amadou Diallo... More 41 times, defense lawyers press for a change of venue as racial tensions escalate.

King Richard

Charged with fraud and money laundering, HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy... More mounts an outlandish defense and resorts to co-hosting a religious talk show.

Big Dan's

After a woman is raped on a bar's pool table,... More the trial is televised live on CNN, revealing the woman's identity and the brutal cross-examination.

Blago

When Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich finds himself facing a corruption... More trial, he tries to embrace the media and even goes on "Celebrity Apprentice."

Trial by Media: Season 1 | Ratings & Reviews

85_%13 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
78_%8 reviews
Audience score rating

"What "Trial by Media" does exceptionally well is distill, in under an hour, the "big takeaways" from each episode... The series is missing an overarching synthesis about how or why viewers should reinterrogate their relationship with crime and court television, especially in the age of true crime."

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Salon

"At times unfocused, Netflix’s latest docuseries “Trial by Media” struggles to bring its six stories together under the same umbrella but contains enough insight to warrant a look and possibly spark conversation."

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RogerEbert.com

"The new six-episode Netflix nonfiction anthology “Trial by Media” constitutes good, solid recappery in the realm of true crime and 50 shades of quality in the world of press coverage of high-profile legal sweepstakes."

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Chicago Tribune

"The series neither creates a timeline nor makes an overarching argument. We're left wondering: When journalists are in thrall to murderers, what is to be done?"

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Time Magazine

"The illuminating Trial by Media devotes an hour each to six high-profile and sensational criminal cases that drew the attention of news organizations from around the country and sometimes around the world."

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