From cable television to popular magazines, stories of scandal and controversy at Duke infiltrated the national media when rape allegations against members of the men's lacrosse team emerged in late March.
Since students left campus for summer vacation, however, several media experts now say the frenzy has waned and media perspectives have shifted.
"Nationally, a lot of the coverage has dropped off," said Kenneth Rogerson, professor of public policy and research director of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy. "The visibility has gone down a whole lot."
Rogerson added that the national media has recently taken what he termed a more balanced approach to presenting the case.
He attributed the difference to a decline in major new evidence, a more vocal stance from the defense teams and fewer public statements made by District Attorney Mike Nifong.
Click for related articles: Complete Coverage: Lacrosse Scandal
This week, Nifong faced sharp criticism when law professor James Coleman, who co-chaired a committee that looked into the behavior of members of the lacrosse program prior to the rape allegations, said the state attorney general should appoint an independent prosecutor to take over the case.
Coleman accused Nifong of being too personally involved in the investigation and condemned him for making public statements before charges were filed-a questionable act under the North Carolina State Bar's Rules of Professional Conduct.
Amid shifting media coverage and attacks from many sides against Nifong, questions have arisen about the future of the case.
Charlotte attorney and former federal prosecutor Richard Glaser, Trinity '76 and former captain of the Duke lacrosse team, said the case could only be dropped if Nifong dismissed the indictments against lacrosse players David Evans, Trinity '06, and juniors Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann.
Thomas Metzloff, a professor at the law school, said dismissal of the indictments would most likely occur if the accuser, an exotic dancer, dropped her charges.
"If a complaining witness chooses not to cooperate, the district attorney can try to subpoena or force a witness to cooperate against her judgement," he said. "But the thought is if the witness cannot cooperate, you really can't get a conviction."
Metzloff added that even if the case were dropped, charges of wrongful prosecution against the accuser would be unlikely.
Although Nifong could charge the dancer with perjury if her accusations were deemed false, he is unlikely to do so, Metzloff explained. Such action could potentially deter future victims from coming forward, he added.
Metzloff said if the case were to be dropped, the residual effects on the indicted players would depend on community reaction.
"If the public believes they didn't do it, they will be able to move on," he said. "It's obviously a tremendous amount of negative impact on their lives, and if they are innocent, everybody feels that's terrible."
During early stages of the case, several media experts said coverage gave unfair preference to the accounts of the accuser.
Ted Vaden, public editor of the Raleigh News & Observer, said the national media-not local outlets-has been the major source of "irresponsible reporting" throughout the investigation.
Rogerson said recent changes in media coverage of the case have not necessarily depicted members of the lacrosse team more favorably, but Vaden said otherwise.
"They've been just as quick to switch their assessments as they were to form them originally," Vaden said, noting that certain cable news sources originally implied that a rape had occurred in their coverage of the story, but have recently begun to challenge that assertion.
"There does seem to have been a tide switch to examining more closely the claims of the [accuser] and the behavior of the [accuser]," he added. "There's been more of a switch in favor of the lacrosse players."
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