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Gantav Gupta, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, IndiaAbstract
This paper investigates media trials in India, particularly their escalation within digital news platforms. While media trials have historically created tension between press freedom under Article 19(1)(a) and fair trial rights under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, the emergence of 24-hour news cycles and social media amplification has intensified this conflict. Existing scholarship focuses primarily on broadcast media trials, creating a significant gap in understanding how the digital news ecosystem, which is replete with speed, sensationalism, and algorithmic distribution and intensifies prejudicial pre-trial publicity. The study intends to compare and analyse high-profile cases across traditional and digital media eras, combined with jurisprudential examination of rulings of the Indian Supreme Court and digital news content analysis, and identify mechanisms through which modern media constructs guilt narratives before judicial adjudication. The study identifies key characteristics of media trials i.e., rapid news cycles that bypass established legal procedures, public participation that reinforces collective judgment, and insufficient regulatory oversight of digital news platforms. The paper argues that India’s existing legal frameworks inadequately address the unique challenges of digital media trials. Digital news platforms, driven by metrics-based engagement models, systematically prioritize sensationalism over judicial fairness, eroding public confidence in institutional justice. This research contributes to media law scholarship by proposing a typology of media trial practices in the age of digital news and evaluating regulatory approaches that preserve press freedom while protecting fair trial guarantees.
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