CENSUS DATA AND JURY SELECTION
According to current US Census data, teenagers and adults spend almost 65 days a year watching television, 41 days listening to the radio and a little over a week using the Internet.  Among adults, 97 million Internet users sought news online last year, 16 million used a social or professional networking service and 13 million created a blog.

 Does such an insatiable demand for information and entertainment have an impact on Jury Selection?  The short answer is yes, but probably not in ways one would immediately surmise.  These trends, according to public policy experts, tend to privatize our leisure time, enabling us to get information and entertainment while remaining entirely alone.  While this is fundamentally very efficient, it limits community social contacts and with this much social isolation we don't share information, values and outlook  in ways we have done in the past. 

I have always believed that Jury Selection is both communications and values based, and that belief has not changed with this additional information.  What it does tell us, however, is that taking a closer look at the impact of shifting trends and goals  is critical in optimizing  the time you have in Voir Dire and in making the most of your  critical challenges.