Dear New Reporter,
Covering court cases is not an easy beat, nor is it easy on one's emotions. In order to do the best journalistic work, you are going to need to learn a few key lessons about the courtroom and your role in it. To help you out, I'll split the lessons up into three general categories: decorum in the courtroom, limits and lines when reporting, and finally, personal emotions and the impact of the job.
Starting with decorum in a courtroom, appearance matters. Journalists should be able to blend in with the courtroom and match the level of professionalism in dress code. Business casual or business professional are always good dress codes to abide by, along with following any rules given to you by the judge. Some journalists may be asked to wear a jacket or identifying piece of clothing so the judge, jury, lawyers and defendant know who is press and who is the public in the courtroom. As for behavior, professionalism is expected and a good rule of thumb is to be seen and not heard. "Courts are very strict about decorum and they don’t want it to turn into a circus-like proceeding," said Randy Evans, the Executive Director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. When it comes to decorum, what the judge says goes. Jurors are another group to think of when considering appropriate courtroom decorum, as they are private citizens who likely do not want to be featured for simply doing their civic duty. "Jurors do not want to contribute to a circus-like atmosphere and judges can handle decorum in their own courtrooms.” Evans said.
Moving into the second category of tips and tricks, let's talk about the limits of court reporting, and the lines that should not be crossed, and what to do if the lines get blurred. A prime example of when court reporting imposes limits is in the Mollie Tibbets trial, when a journalist took photos of jurors while they viewed photos of the victim's remains. This was a deeply emotional and traumatic moment for many involved in the trial, and those photos violated the privacy of not only the jurors, but for the Tibbets family. Sensitive information, photos, or highly emotional or graphic testimony should be left out of reports out of respect for all involved. No one wants to be forced to relive the most traumatic moment of their life in court only for it to be blasted out for the world to see. Court cases are public affairs, yet certain things should be left to the imagination out of respect.
The journalists job is not to be recording each moment and each word spoken in court, but to piece together the whole story for an outside viewer. "It is not the job of journalists to be court reporters," said Evans. Another line that is not to be crossed is with media equipment. This is a very sensitive area, as there are strict rules on equipment within courtrooms. "Court rules state that access to digital equipment is reserved for journalists or people who spend their time doing journalism activities, not the defendant.” said Evans. This means that using media equipment is a privilege, and discretion is necessary when recording live. Sometimes judges may even ban media equipment from a courtroom for fear that the lawyers may play to the cameras rather than the jury, turning the case away from the facts and into a performance.
Journalism is an investigative field, yet when lines get blurred and you don't know if you should include something in a story, what do you do? You can run it anyways and push the boundaries, you can choose to be more conservative and keep controversial information out of it, or you can choose to include only parts of the story. Each option has its pros and cons, but the decision ultimately falls on you. Even if your editor is pressuring you to run an article that you have reservations about, the bottom line is your own ethics and moral compass. It's a lot of pressure, but sticking to your ethics and morals is what will make or break you as a trustworthy and credible journalist.
Here we are, the final section of tips and tricks: emotions and the impact of a journalist's job. Courtrooms see cases that show the worst sides of people. You will see cases that sicken you, break your heart, and make you doubt that there is good left in the world. It is not easy, yet you will need to focus on the job you are there to do. You are not the judge nor the jury. You have no say in the outcome, but what you can control is how you relay the facts to the public. Separating your job from others jobs inside the courtroom is imperative to preserve your mental health. Court is not all doom and gloom however. Sometimes court cases can be happy occasions, such as a refugee being granted asylum, an adoption being finalized, or an immigrant moving down the path towards becoming a citizen. As a journalist you are going to be there to capture every moment and memorialize it all, the good the bad and the ugly. Not many people can do this job, but the impact is tremendous. Your story may be the one that goes viral and brings a victim their long awaited justice, or your story may be cut out and saved in scrapbooks to show future generations how your family became citizens. Court reporting is a wild world, yet can be incredibly rewarding if you remember that you are there to tell the story.
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