Instructor Spotlight: Luke Steiner

Tell us about yourself and what inspired you to teach this course

I’ve always had an interest in law and politics and, coming into Tufts, I was certain that I would major in something like Political Science or International Relations. My sophomore year, I took a Film class on a whim that completely changed my perception of how people interact, communicate, and exercise or experience power. More specifically, it made me realize how film and media can serve as valuable lenses into law and politics over diverse historical and social landscapes. At the same time, I realized how media can also be a tool to help reshape legal and political systems. I really wanted to teach this course and share that realization.

What is one thing folks should keep in mind as we see a rise in televised legal proceedings?

This semester, we’ve spent a lot of time questioning how different types of media can impact our trust in a legal system to serve justice. We’ve analyzed everything from scripted court dramas like Better Call Saul and Anatomy of a Fall, to Court “docuseries” like The People’s Court, and raw court footage like CourtTv and the trials of Karen Read and Ted Bundy. Ultimately, representations of legal systems, in any form, don’t just reflect it but profoundly impact how we view it and how it works. So, when viewing televised legal proceedings it’s important to remember that we are only seeing a fraction of the system at work. Moreover, it’s vital we remember that just because the system seems to be working in one case, doesn’t mean it’s actually been perfected.

There seems to be a media to politics pipeline (i.e. Trump and Zelensky). Tell us a bit about this phenomenon and its prevalence today

There is absolutely a pipeline from media to politics, one of our units this semester is even named “Media-Made Politicians.” I think that media has been influencing politics since its inception. Every piece of media is a product of the cultural context in which it was produced. At the same time, media is visibility and determines which stories are seen, whose voices are heard, and which ideas shape public perception and political realities.

There seems to have been a shift in the meaning of media in elections. In 2004, a moment like Howard Dean’s “Dean Scream” was enough to cripple a promising campaign. In 2014, Obama stirred controversy over clips of the tan suit he wore at a press conference. Now, It seems like almost any media moment can be turned from a blunder to a positive sign of hope. In the last election, a viral clip like Kamala Harris’, “You think you fell out of a coconut tree?” was initially taken out of context and used to suggest incompetence, was reclaimed by her supporters and team as a moment of authenticity. There is no doubt that media impacts our politics, but how it does so seems to change with each election.