Newspaper and Radio Coverage of Criminal Trials: A Modern Dilemma

Abstract

Is the trial of an important criminal case before a jury in an average American city fair game for the city desk of the local newspaper, the manner and extent of coverage depending upon various elements of estimated reader interest like any exciting sports event? The question a leading one, of course, suggesting a negative answer. But, as a newspaperman moderately grounded in legal principles and one who confesses to a perhaps romantic faith in our ancient jury system, I have been getting the impression lately that some of us nowadays really do think of a big trial as little more than a legitimate news story; the newsplay and value of the story being chiefly affected by the seriousness of the offense, its vicious or unusual nature, and the appeal of the defendant's wife's figure. We would all deny it in court, of course, but isn't the truth demonstrated in the way we act and talk and write about the cases we cover? And, what worse, are we not encouraged in this error sometimes by the attitudes of judges and lawyers themselves? I think every reporter engaged in covering the courts has had, on frequent occasions, the experience of being tipped off in advance by attorneys or even judges to the fact that a certain case upcoming is going to be a corker-it ought to make a good Page One story ! You may argue that ethical lawyers don't do such things, or that patriotic and high-minded newspapermen would not lend themselves to sensationalizing a man's trial for life and liberty. And you would be right, undoubtedly. I'm merely saying that it happens, and few of us are innocent.