Richard Jewell

Richard Jewell

The media played a significant role in ruining the life of Richard Jewell during the summer Olympic bombing in Atlanta in 1996. Additionally, it played a pivotal role in the capture of the real culprit. The media should, therefore, play an active role in bringing people to justice but not ruining their lives.

Born on 17th December 1962, Richard Jewell a security guard for AT and T was accused of taking part in the 1996 Summer Olympic Bombing. In a crowded Centennial Olympic Park, he noticed an unattended knapsack that contained a crude pipe bomb (The New York Times, 2013). He alerted the police and played a significant role in clearing the people from the scene before the bomb exploded killing one person and injuring one hundred and eleven others.

He was lauded as a hero but later accused of planting the bomb. For instance, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a journal claiming that Jewell may have planted the bomb. He was aggressively questioned by FBI agents and his apartment searched in an attempt to find any evidence connecting him to the incidence (The New York Times, 2013) He underwent both emotional and psychological distress for a couple of months before he was cleared of the accusations in October 1996. He criticized and sued the media and the FBI for the way they handled his case (The International Journal of the History of Sport, 2016). This led to the reprimanding of several FBI agents. Attorney General Reno was also compelled to publicly apologize. Richard later found a job as a deputy sheriff at Georgia before his demise due to diabetes complications in 2007.

The media should be held responsible for ruining people’s lives. Random stories in social media whether true or not have grave consequences on the victims. For instance, they affect the victims emotionally, psychologically and socially (Allcott, Gentzkow, & Chuan, 2018). Individual rights to assembly, privacy and expression are interfered with. For instance, Jewell and his mother underwent emotional distress due to the fake news that was going around about him. Any media outlet found guilty of ruining an individual’s life through fake news should face the full force of the law. The media personality culpable of releasing the fake news should be apprehended and presented in a court of law to answer to the charges. The media house should also face closure and compensate the victim for the distress caused.

Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty for the Olympic Park Bombing in Atlanta in avoidance of a death penalty. Born on 19th September 1966, he served as a brief stint in the U.S Army before working as a carpenter. He became a prime suspect of the bombing after witnesses reported having spotted his vehicle in the neighborhood before the explosion. He was officially charged with the three Atlanta bombings but continued eluding the law enforcement agents. He was finally arrested on 31st May 2003, pleaded guilty to charges against him and sentenced to life imprisonment without bail.

Anti-abortion views triggered Eric into resulting in terrorism. He believed that abortion was morally wrong and that no individual should be allowed to conduct the activity. Besides, he believed that abortion does not liberate women but allows society not to cater to the needs of women through readily available childcare systems (Alcott, Gentzkow, & Chuan, 2018). Anti-homosexual views also contributed to his involvement in terrorism. He was of the notion that homosexuality is an act of pervasion and should not be allowed in society.

In conclusion, the media has the power to ruin people’s lives through the release of unjustified news. It should, therefore, be held responsible if it is found guilty of ruining people’s lives. Actions such as apprehension of media personalities, closure of media houses and heavy fines are ways that can remedy the situation.

References

Allcott, H., Gentzkow, M., & Chuan , Y. (2018). Trends in the Diffusion of Misinformation on Social Media. NBER, 1-13.

The International Journal of the History of Sport. (2016). Terrorism and Security at the Olympics: Empirical Trends and Evolving Research Agendas . The International Journal of the History of Sport, 451-468.

The New York Times. (2013). Olympic Bombing 1996: Richard Jewell, the Wrong Man. The New York Times, youtube.

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Richard Jewell

Paper details
Instruction:
Who was Richard Jewell? How did he become infamous? Should the media be held accountable for destroying
someone’s life? If so how?
Please briefly add who was the Olympic Park Bomber and why did he resort to terrorism?
Requirement:
Please use APA format and only two pages.
Use the Youtube video as one of your reference