Jury verdicts after Scrushy: Does the use of media advocacy and public relations techniques compromise the legal agenda

The relationships between the media, public, and legal agendas in the criminal case of United States v. Scrushy (2005) was investigated. The methods employed in this research were comprehensive content analysis and interviews and yielded quantitative and qualitative data. The content analysis was examined using ANOVA and t-tests (used to identify significant differences between types of media coverage and defined dimensions).; Media coverage was determined from a content analysis. The results indicated advocacy attempts by an individual influenced the coverage. Consistent with agenda-setting theory which posits the media sets and influences the public agenda, public relations tactics employed by the individual in this instance indicated influence on the public agenda. The results did not indicate the individual influenced the legal agenda.; Additional research is warranted in order to establish more than a causal connection between the media, public, and legal agendas. Future research in this matter will focus on how the legal agenda is set and influenced as well as examine the types of advocacy attempts which are likely to be successful in influencing the public and/or legal agendas.