Trial by media, deceased defendants and the victim as a commodity

Abstract

The aim of this article is to assess the dynamic between the media, the public, victims and deceased offenders. Taking the recent events concerning Jimmy Savile in the UK and Rehavam Ze’evi in Israel as case studies, the article attempts to make sense of a rather complex social relationship. The article questions the social usefulness of aggressive journalism; it submits that the relationship between the mass media and the public is responsible for the reproduction of violence and the commodification of the victim.