In the context of today’s world, some countries have broadcast court hearings on television to the public. This has caused lots of debate on whether it is harmful or beneficial. From my perspective, I contend that both endeavors hold equal importance, each driven by distinct rationals.
On the one hand, the idea of televising criminal courts is beneficial to some extent. To begin with, showing offenders on television is also a legal educational measure to prevent the risk of crime. This means that it can cause people who have negative thoughts or intentions to immediately abandon those thoughts. In addition, the majority of citizens do not have much personal experience with legal matters and procedures. This might be explained by the fact that people often do not pay attention to the laws that the state promulgates. Thus, broadcasting criminal trials on electronic media can promote the individual’s understanding of that. For instance, in Vietnam, education about crime issues has not been elevated in schools and workplaces; showing them through programs can help people understand better.
On the other hand, there are a variety of reasons why I believe that allowing trials to be televised can create negative impacts on society. To commence with, dangerous wrongdoer cases bring shame to the culprit’s family. The reason for this is that personal and family information about the perpetrator that should be protected and kept secret is made public, so this leads to unnecessary consequences. They are stigmatized and discriminated against where their family lives. Meanwhile, this is fair to the families of the criminals, they have done nothing to deserve injustice or contempt from society. Additionally, the victims themselves will also have their lives affected if criminal proceedings are shown on television. This is because the casualty’s address and name were widely televised on websites, hence it is difficult for them to recover from injury and to reintegrate into life because they are depressed. To illustrate, what would happen to a rape victim if the court hearing were televised? Surely this is not a pleasant thing for them at all, and it causes them more psychological damage when facing individuals.
In conclusion, televising criminal trials confers both advantages and disadvantages. Conversely, I am of the opinion that the damage that could happen due to the airing of criminal proceedings would have more detrimental effects on society than benefits.