The woman has so far been spared any "formal" public humiliation via the news media. The Standard has opted not to publish the image which shows her "mid-act" and crouching beside a taxi. The image has, however, been viewed thousands of times on Facebook.

This case bears similarities to the story of Brisbane NRL fan Kerry Ann Strasser. After a few drinks at a State of Origin game in 2011, Strasser pulled down her pants and urinated on her seat. A spectator captured the act on his phone camera and uploaded the footage to YouTube.

The video went viral within hours, scoring 30,000 hits, but was removed a day later as part of the site's policy on inappropriate content.

But just as the footage disappeared from YouTube, traditional media intensified her shame by reporting the incident across Australia and the globe.

Strasser admitted to being the person in the clip, but instead of issuing an on-the-spot fine, police summonsed her to court on one count of urinating in a public place. Strasser did not attend, but a number of journalists did.

Her lawyer, who entered a plea of guilty on her behalf, told magistrate Wally Ehrich of her client's humiliation and suffering.

She said Strasser's family had also been affected. The magistrate acknowledged her "worldwide embarrassment" and fined her $100 without conviction.

But Strasser's walk of shame continues. Type her name into Google today and the top results continue to reveal details of her anti-social behaviour.

Our research, with the support of the Victoria Law Foundation, examines the intensified role of the media in shaming ordinary people when they commit minor crimes. Unlike some North American jurisdictions, Australian courts do not consider public shaming when sentencing. It is the news media that decides if a person who appears before the court will also be brought to wider public attention and the degree to which they will be shamed.

The research is also particularly concerned with the role of the media in reporting non-convictions. When someone like Strasser receives a non-conviction it means they are given a "second chance" at keeping their criminal record clean.

Consider the example of the woman who did a wee at McDonald's. If police decide that this matter should go before the courts, The Standard will be in its rights to "name and shame" her for the crime.

So far, the news media has taken the admirable stance of not identifying or publishing the photographs of this woman, knowing all too well the damage this may cause to her reputation in this small community, particularly if she is a "local".

As former court reporters, we have lost count of the number of people who appeared before a magistrate's court charged with urinating in a public place mostly men caught "draining the snake" in public spaces like a CBD alley next to the Whalers Hotel. Almost all of these people were fined and issued non-convictions a slap on the wrist and the chance to redeem themselves away from the public gaze. Yet, journalists have the discretion to decide who they want to name and shame on the basis of whether they consider a story to be "newsworthy". This places them in an enormous position of power.

In Western societies, shaming has always been a popular and arguably effective means of social control. Up until the 19th century, shaming penalties were popular punishments for minor crimes. It was a common custom to put offenders in the stocks at a public market and it was not unusual for an angry crowd to pelt them to death.

When these brutal punishments were eventually phased out, the practice of shaming became the domain of the news media. However, the practice of shaming is changing again. The "mob" is making a resurgence, but where they once hurled stones, they now use new media tools to inflict indelible marks of humiliation.

Cases such as this in Warrnambool provide a rich example of how the fusion of new and old media intensifies the pillorying effect on people who commit minor crimes. Content is archived across digital spaces from news websites to Google and internet blogs, which means for people like Strasser and more recently the Warrnambool McDonald's example, their shame may be only ever a mouse click away.

Kristy Hess and Lisa Waller are senior lecturers at Deakin University. They are undertaking research into the relationship between media, the courts and public shaming with the assistance of a grant from the Victoria Law Foundation.