Abstract
Public trust in the criminal justice system in England and Wales has been low since the 1990s, and accusations that the system is arcane, lacking transparency, soft on criminals and removed from the society it serves are common. The government, together with many lawyers, journalists and experts, believes that lifting the ban on televising trials may enhance the transparency of the judicial system, and eventually lead to higher levels of public trust. Drawing on the most systematic content analysis of the coverage of this debate between 1984 and 2016, we analyse how this issue was debated in British national newspapers. In addition to examining how newspapers presented this policy debate, we also explore how the coverage discussed the impact that filming trials could have upon journalistic practice. Our analysis shows how metajournalistic discourse resorts to high-profile and celebrity cases when examining journalistic practice. Newspapers constructed this issue as a quandary between increasing the transparency of the judicial system, and the risk that justice would become sensationalised, ignoring key elements in the debate, and the role that journalists themselves may play in that process.
Highlights
Public trust in the criminal justice system in England and Wales has been low since the 1990s, and accusations that the system is arcane, lacking transparency, soft on criminals and removed from the society it serves are common
Public confidence in the criminal justice system has been an issue for concern in recent decades across most developed countries (Hough and Roberts, 2004; Van De Walle, 2009; Van De Walle and Raine, 2008)
Presenting the results of the most systematic content analysis of the coverage of this debate in British national newspapers between 1984 and 2016 – the period for which the newspapers in the sample are available through Nexis – this article examines the debate around the introduction of cameras in the courtroom in the press, and advances our understanding of how this policy is debated through newspapers
Summary
Public trust in the criminal justice system in England and Wales has been low since the 1990s, and accusations that the system is arcane, lacking transparency, soft on criminals and removed from the society it serves are common. In addition to examining how newspapers presented this policy debate, we explore how the coverage discussed the impact that filming trials could have upon journalistic practice. Our analysis shows how metajournalistic discourse resorts to high-profile and celebrity cases when examining journalistic practice. Newspapers constructed this issue as a quandary between increasing the transparency of the judicial system, and the risk that justice would become sensationalised, ignoring key elements in the debate, and the role that journalists themselves may play in that process. Our research presents an exploration of metajournalistic discourse, showing how a variety of key actors – from lawyers or journalists to judges or citizens – engage in this debate and discuss and think the role journalists (should) play in making justice accessible and transparent to citizens.
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