One such incident happened in Florida in 1955 when Cheryl Ann Barnes left home on January 3 but never showed up at her high school (Barney et. al., 1996). Cheryl's grandparents contacted the media to draw more attention to the search for Cheryl. They worked with the media effectively and provided them with things like videotape of Cheryl singing in her church choir. Cheryl's grandparents believed the girl had been kidnapped, and encouraged the media to keep this scenario in the public eye although the sheriff's department believed there were other possibilities. For instance, over the period of time Cheryl was missing, she used her ATM card several times. She attended church in Pennsylvania and spoke with the minister there.

Even the testimony of photographs and films showing police engaged in acts of brutality toward demonstrators and newsmen has not seemed to temper the sweeping nature of the indictment against the press. Yet the evidence of police brutality was so pervasive that no responsible official has suggested that it didn't happen -- rather, the burden against the press is that there was sufficient provocation for the police action, that the press took sides against the police, and that there wasn't all that much brutality anyway (Witcover, 2001). Local prosecutors tried some of the leaders of those demonstrations, and those trials also became media events. In the case of this incident, recent evaluation of those events suggests that the media inadvertently influenced the events they reported (Witcover, 2001).

It seems likely that police agencies will continue to have a complicated relationship with the media. Because the media is driven by the need for headlines and coverage of dramatic events, they may sometimes go too far, as in the case of Cheryl Barnes. They may play a crucial role, as in the case of Carlie Brucia. Finally, the police, as a public agency, will sometimes come under the scrutiny of the media, and that scrutiny may or may not be handled fairly. In all three scenarios, media action can affect how crimes are prosecuted.

The United States Constitution guarantees freedom of the press, and sometimes that important Constitutional right clashes with the needs of police and prosecution. Sometimes many feel the media goes too far in their pursuit of the story. In that situation they can actually interfere with police work, as happened in the case of Cheryl Barnes. Conversely, they may cover a story incompletely, undermining the credibility of a police force, as is claimed in the Cincinnati case. But interestingly, sometimes the media itself falls under criticism. When violence broke out in the streets around the Democratic National Convention in 1968, many people who watched the events on television concluded that the media had actually joined w

Some common words found in the essay are:
National Convention, Cheryl Barnes, Ann Barnes, Montel Williams, City Cheryl, Amber Alerts, Carlie Brucia, United Constitution, Meanwhile Cheryl's, Barnes Conversely, barney et, al 1996, et al, et al 1996, barney et al, witcover 2001, local police, cheryl barnes, father access media, cover story, media involved, media events, family york,
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Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)