Assessing the Risk of Social Isolation of Suspects and Accused: The Impact of the Media

2026-07-22

A key factor affecting the personal and social life of suspects and accused is the media coverage of their cases. Inappropriate media exposure, particularly at the beginning of proceedings, affect the presumption of innocence creating negative public attitudes towards defendants (and their families) before their guilt has been established by the court. The presentation of defendants in the media is subject to various studies, policies and regulations. However, the increased accessibility of technologies has changed the way information is shared, creating new challenges that are not addressed by the existing instruments. Once published, the news reach large audiences easily and quickly, remain accessible for a long time, and facilitate the identification of defendants. The project aims to enhance the presumption of innocence in relation to media coverage of criminal cases. This will be achieved by analysing the impact of media exposure on defendants, developing standards for criminal justice authorities on how to disclose information, and promoting ethical guidelines for journalists on how to report criminal cases. The project will produce four country reports, a comparative study and a case studies report on the impact of media exposure, standards and guidelines for disclosing and reporting information, and a guidebook for practitioners. It will directly address criminal justice authorities and media, but will also benefit policy makers, lawyers and defendants. Results will be disseminated through an outreach strategy consisting of national events, website, newsletters and promotion on social networks. The immediate impact of the project is the improved knowledge of stakeholders how media coverage can affect the situation of defendants, what can be done to prevent it and how information can be disclosed without affecting the presumption of innocence. In the long run, project outputs can serve as evidence-based knowledge for future EU policies on that matter.

Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain

2026-02-15