Publicity stunts, power play, and information warfare in mediatized public confessions.

Confession has for centuries been known as the queen of evidence. This paper examines an unusual type of confessions – ones that are made in public and out of court, the main target audience of which is not legal enforcement or court officers but the generic public. Operating in the margins of law, these confessions may make legal procedures redundant. Through analysing three recent public confessions from different jurisdictions that are mediatized and spectacularized, this paper asks what these confessions communicate, what motivations states have in staging them and how such confessions may be understood in relation to the modern communication environment today. In particular, I highlight narrative inconsistencies in these confessions and consider whether they affect their communicative functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]