Week #4: Case Studies Revisited

In light of our class on Wednesday and the Dallas Cowboys case study we covered, I feel compelled to continue that discussion here.

As I said in class, I think the Cowboys organization approached this is the completely wrong way. By not saying anything (and not only that, they were refusing to comment on the issue) and not offering the public any information, in my opinion, that only created more doubt and controversy and brought more media attention to the situation than had they offered even just a tiny tid-bit of information regarding the incident.

When it comes to public figures and entities, the public wants information. The media do not tell the public what to think, but they do tell them what to think about. The public also wants simplicity.

I make reference here to one of the most famous felony jury cases in history, the O.J. Simpson case. The amount of evidence in that case was overwhelmingly in favor of the prosecution, however, their misguided and unplanned delieverance of the evidence to the jury caused the jury to misinterpret the importance of that evidence; the jury saw a detailed, in-depth presentation on too many factors to connect together. The prosecution needed a simple, thought-out process to present and the case may have been decided in a different manner. During a trial, a jury's sole purpose is to determine if the evidence presented proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendent is guilty. If there is any uncertainty, it is the jury's obligation to not indict him or her. In the O.J. Simpson case, the prosecution did not present their overwhelming evidence to the jury in a manner that would prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Same situation applies within the Dallas Cowboys incident, except in the reverse order. If the Cowboys (who are the best-known American football team in the world) would have offered a tiny amount of information in a simple and controlled manner, the situation would have been over then and there. Press coverage would have lasted one day. Instead, information was still coming out years later.

An example I brought up in class was the Dallas Stars organization earlier this season. Due to the fact that this is published and open for the world to see, I will not reiterate what I said about the Stars news release. However, to read the official news release from the Stars organization, CLICK HERE.