Page 111 - Courting the Media Contemporary Perspectives on Media and Law

102 Per-Anders Forstorp

• What are the characteristics of the contexts in which the expression
can be used?
• What is the function of this expression in these particular situations?
• What are the possible pro and cons of making this formulation
explicit?
• What is the legal and/or popular legal status of an expression like
this?

In this article I will focus on some of these questions. The aim of the
analysis is to explore interpretations of the expression ―your words against
mine‖ based on various contexts of use related to the specific case at Crazy
Horse. The central problems concern the possible uses and interpretations of
the expression ―your words against mine‖ in popular legal contexts and
explore which strategies are used by actors in order to promote or combat
particular interpretations. The analysis will follow three steps. First, I will
interpret the expression as a principle of journalistic neutrality which has a
specific role to play in a particular dimension of popular legal culture, i.e. the
media. I will show in detail how this principle of neutrality is accomplished.
Secondly, I will identify another context (the public letter of resignation) in
which the same expression is used by one of the contested parties. Finally,
these interpretations and strategies are related to an eclectic selection of
theoretical resources, a theoretical smorgasbord, if you like. I will theorize the
expression ―your words against mine‖ from the point of view of
communication theory, media studies, discourse and law. The discussion will
initially be put into the frame of popular legal culture, particularly identifying
the role played by media in the process of reporting on legal matters. The
analysis is a contribution to discourse theory and law, as well as to culture and
the law, and to media studies and communication theory.
The particular case in question is based on an event taking place in a
North European socio-cultural context of dispute, but I believe that the
argument about communication, media and law carries a more general validity
as an example of a communicative state of exception.

POPULAR LEGAL CULTURE AND THE MEDIA

The media, as noted by Lawrence Friedman in his seminal article ―Law,
Lawyers, and Popular Culture‖ [Friedman], occupies an important part of what
we define as popular legal culture. The media functions as an informal