Definitions of trial by media
when a person undergoing a trial is given a lot of publicity in newspapers, television, radio, and the internet etc, especially negative publicity that suggests the person is either liable (in a civil trial) or guilty (in a criminal trial). The term is more commonly used in connection with criminal trials.
There are growing concerns that press coverage of the judicial process is out of control, resulting in trial by media and a threat to the defendant's right to a fair trial.