Reporters Rush to Make Sense of Stewart Sentencing

After Martha Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison, business journalists tried to put into perspective the latest chapter in the saga of the so-called Domestic diva.

Noting that Stewart had addressed the court prior to her sentencing, where she appealed for leniency, Washington Post staff writers Brooke A. Masters and William Branigin explained U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum's reasoning.

"Cedarbaum said she gave Stewart the minimum under sentencing guidelines because Stewart had no prior criminal record and had done a lot of good," according to the Post report. "In addition, Cedarbaum said, 'I believe you have suffered, and will suffer, enough.'"

Stewart was sentenced to the prison term after being found guilty in March of obstruction of justice, conspiracy and making false statements. The verdict stemmed from her role in the Dec. 27, 2001 sale of ImClone stock following an alleged insider tip to dump her shares.

Stewart was also ordered to serve five months in home confinement, two years of probation and to pay a $30,000 fine by Judge Cedarbaum. Most analysts expected a prison sentence between 10 and 16 months.

Following her sentencing, Stewart made a brief statement to reporters and the public gathered outside a New York courthouse.

"I'm just very, very sorry that it's come to this, that a small personal matter has been able to be blown out of all proportion," Stewart said. "We are going to appeal."

And that appeal prevents Stewart from going to prison immediately.

It was apparent throughout the developments in the Stewart case that her fan base provided great support to the celebrity homemaker. Indeed, many celebrities themselves voiced their backing of Stewart.

An article in BusinessWeek examined the implications such celebrity and attention brought to the case.

"Stewart's celebrity has exerted a pull in both directions. On the one hand, it mobilized thousands of fans to reach out in support. But this wasn't a popularity contest," BusinessWeek reports.

"The fact that so many people love Stewart's towels or TV show may have worked against her. Stewart's success and celebrity have made her a powerful symbol of corporate wrongdoing. The government wanted to make an example of her."

Included in Stewart's statement outside the courthouse, she urged the public to support her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She encouraged consumers to purchase her brands and magazines and asked advertisers to bring their business back to her company.

The influence was seen in the stock price of her company (MSO on NYSE), which traded above $2 in early Friday afternoon trading, a jump of almost 30 percent.

Publications questioned the viability of MSO in their post-sentencing coverage.

"Stewart's conviction has forced her media and merchandising company, New York-based Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, to diversify itself from its near total dependence on its namesake's image and reputation," Jesus Sanchez and Thomas M. Mulligan of the Los Angeles Times report.

Stewart apologized to the more than 200 former employees who have been laid off since her legal problems began.

Click here to access a commentary on Stewart by Allyce Bess of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Also, reference a timeline in the Stewart case from BusinessJournalism.org.

Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism