Court TV founder Steven Brill has a new documentary series on Netflix called “Trial by Media.”
The six episode limited series explores how the media influenced the public perception of six different high profile trials. Brill joined Emily Rooney on WGBH New’s Greater Boston Thursday to talk about the show. He told Rooney that the media not only can impact the public opinion of a case, but can also affect the views of the lawyers and even juries.
“We try to stress what the lawyers think about the public perception of the trial, and I think they use how media covers the trial as a proxy for what the jury is going to think about the trial, or in some cases they may use how the media covers the trial as a way to influence how the jury is going to think about a trial,” Brill said.
Brill co-executive produced the series with legal analyst Jeffery Tobin. Brill said he and Tobin had specific criteria for what trails they decided to cover on the show, like the trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
“We tried to think of trials that were ... dramatic; that in some way had a surprising or suspenseful ending … but also told a larger story,” Brill said.
You can watch “Trial by Murder,” on Netflix now.
