Crime and Media - Martha Stewart Case
The type of crime that I chose to analyze is a non-violent crime. I chose to address the crime of insider trading, particularly the Martha Stewart insider trading case. I will also refer to other trading cases such as one that happened recently against Galleon Group, an invest firm in New York, which was charged for insider trading. In this paper, I will talk about how the media, particularly newspapers, depicts crimes associated with popular celebrities and compare it to how it depicts the same crime with a regular person.
The Martha Stewart insider trading case was a popular news story that shook the business world. It received a great deal of attention among many types of audiences through an assortment of media channels. But was the Martha Stewart case such a major crime? Martha Stewart was charged with committing securities fraud by engaging in illegal insider trading. Insider trading is illegal in the United States. Stewart used secretive information not yet released to the general public in order to avoid a loss of $45,673 by using the information she received from Samuel Waksal, CEO of ImClone Systems, to sell her stocks early in that company. This is significant because even though she was found guilty of this, the amount that was involved was really an insignificant amount when dealing with insider trading cases. It was only $45,673. In the months that followed the conviction, Stewart drew heavy media scrutiny. This included a headline that stated, “Martha’s Mess” on a cover of Newsweek. Its headlines like these that catch a reader’s eyes and draws immediate attention to the article. Celebrities receive a great deal of attention when it comes to crimes committed regardless of the scope of the crime and its effect. The media can be vicious when they choose to be. However, they are vicious to issues that are not necessarily the most important, but the issues that draw the most attention and interest.
According to the a Securities and Exchange Commission
The Martha Stewart insider trading case was a popular news story that shook the business world. It received a great deal of attention among many types of audiences through an assortment of media channels. But was the Martha Stewart case such a major crime? Martha Stewart was charged with committing securities fraud by engaging in illegal insider trading. Insider trading is illegal in the United States. Stewart used secretive information not yet released to the general public in order to avoid a loss of $45,673 by using the information she received from Samuel Waksal, CEO of ImClone Systems, to sell her stocks early in that company. This is significant because even though she was found guilty of this, the amount that was involved was really an insignificant amount when dealing with insider trading cases. It was only $45,673. In the months that followed the conviction, Stewart drew heavy media scrutiny. This included a headline that stated, “Martha’s Mess” on a cover of Newsweek. Its headlines like these that catch a reader’s eyes and draws immediate attention to the article. Celebrities receive a great deal of attention when it comes to crimes committed regardless of the scope of the crime and its effect. The media can be vicious when they choose to be. However, they are vicious to issues that are not necessarily the most important, but the issues that draw the most attention and interest.
According to the a Securities and Exchange Commission