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Presumption Lost: The Erosion of 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty' in the Age of Mass Media examines the structural incompatibility between the legal principle of "innocent until proven guilty" and the modern information ecosystem. Published in October 2025, this work argues that the erosion of presumption of innocence in public consciousness stems from five intersecting structural forces that cannot be corrected through individual moral improvement or simple policy reforms.

The research documents nine high-profile cases from 2015-2025 where individuals faced criminal accusations, endured intense public scrutiny, and were ultimately exonerated—yet found their careers destroyed and reputations permanently tarnished. The analysis reveals how legal exoneration arrives too late, too quietly, and to too few people to repair damage inflicted by initial accusations.

This website was created to make the research accessible to a broad audience, including academics, policymakers, legal practitioners, journalists, and engaged citizens. The work is available for citation and reference to support broader understanding of how modern media systematically undermines this foundational legal principle.

This dissertation employs a multi-disciplinary approach, synthesizing research from:

• Legal History: Tracing the development of presumption of innocence from Roman law through medieval canon law to modern constitutional protections
• Media Studies: Analyzing the evolution of crime coverage across four media eras (penny press, broadcast, cable news, and social media)
• Cognitive Psychology: Examining confirmation bias, primacy effects, belief perseverance, and continued influence effects
• Institutional Analysis: Documenting the collapse of public trust in legal institutions using comprehensive polling data
• Case Studies: Detailed examination of nine cases where criminal accusations destroyed reputations despite legal exoneration