Does a jury need to be interviewed individually in order to determine whether the publicity surrounding the trial has been prejudiced or prejudiced?

811 F.2d at 51; see also United States v. Lord, 565 F.2d 831, 838-39 (2d Cir.1977). This process is simple and is efficient to determine whether the publicity, has the potential to deprive the defendant of a fair trial. The court should of course give an instruction (even if one has been given earlier, for example, immediately after the jury has been sworn in) that the jurors should not read any news article about the trial or watch or listen to any item on television or radio about the trial. If this process is followed, we may presume, in the absence of any indication to the contrary, that the jurors have followed the court's instructions and have rendered their verdict solely on the basis of the evidence at trial. See, e.g., United States v. Zichettello, 208 F.3d 72, 106 (2d Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1143, 121 S.Ct. 1077, 148 L.Ed.2d 954 (2001); United States v. McDonough, 56 F.3d at 386-87; United States v. Casamento, 887 F.2d 1141, 1154-55 (2d Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1081, 110 S.Ct. 1138, 107 L.Ed.2d 1043 (1990); Gaggi, 811 F.2d at 51-53.

We have also held, however, that where the defendants prefer not to have the jurors interviewed individually, the trial court has discretion to forgo such interviews and instead give a general admonition to the jurors as a group to avoid exposure to publicity about the case. See United States v. Eisen, 974 F.2d 246, 267 (2d Cir.1992) (individual interviews with the jurors were not necessary because "the defendants ... specifically requested that no such individual voir dire be conducted for fear of magnifying the problem"), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 1029, 113 S.Ct. 1841, 123 L.Ed.2d 467 (1993). In the absence of any indication that the jurors failed to follow the court's instructions, we found that "[t]he steps taken to protect the integrity of the jury deliberations were adequate under the circumstances." Id.