Court Reporting

I have been appointed Crime / Legal Affairs Reporter for WINOL 2012, this will be a challenging and rewarding role which I am eagerly awaiting to explore. In preparation for the crunch in September I have been brushing over my media law revision from the past year, refreshing myself on the likes of Defamation, Qualified Privilege, Privacy, Courts and Contempt.

One of the main sources for stories on Crime will be at Winchester Crown Court. All reports must be fast, accurate and fair, and consist of key pointers such as:
1. Identification - Name, DOB, Address, Sentencing - This is the facts.
2. Skeleton arguments - Outline the basis of the case - This is the background
3. Quotes - From the Judges, witnesses or defendants - This is the colour to the report.
4. Footage - GVs of outside, Lengthy report to camera, Mug shots - This is the visual identification.

The Public Gallery is where members of the public and journalists can position themselves to observe the trial and sentencing. Ensure when sat in the public gallery that you can see the defendant in the dock and hear and see witnesses. Detail such as reactions of victims family will also add imagery and aid the report.

In order to find out about upcoming court sentences, the 'Court Serve' website will allow you to plan in advance and know the time and date of a hearing. Its vital that you know the reporting restrictions.

The layout of a Crown Court is broken down into 8 categories:

1. Judge 

- imposes reporting restrictions
- ensure fair trial
- direct the jury

2. Clerk

- puts charges formally to defendants
- takes pleas
- can provide you with copies of charges and useful information for identification

3. Jury

- 12 randomly selected members of the public

4. Defence Team 

- defence barrister

5. Prosecution

- present the strongest case against defendant

6. Witnesses

- provide evidence and facts
- could be forensic experts

7. Dock

- defendant hears the case here

8. Public Gallery 

- press and public can hear the case here

Contempt - on arrest, criminal proceedings become active, the case can become active on arrest, when a warrant for arrest is issued, summons is issued or on oral charge. When a case is active you cannot publish material, otherwise you are guilty of contempt. 


Remember, all reports must be

FAST ACCURATE + FAIR

Information above has been sourced by The BBC College of Journalism. 

The Rob Brydon Show

Once again I was given the opportunity to be apart of a studio audience, and in this instance it was for The Rob Brydon Show. Even after getting there early we were still faced with 'standby' tickets as the studio had already been filled... just my luck. I thought well I've been turned down before so I'm sure its going to happen again, but to my amazement there were only 3 seats left, and 3 people stood before me in the queue. Luckily two were a couple and one was alone, so they offered my group who were three together the last golden chairs. A huge bolt of electricity ran through my body, I was very excited.

We found our way over the wires, through the production team and to our seats, and to our surprise the best seats in the house; second row from the front. The set was magnificent, the intricate details creating a real life vision of an intellects house was the perfect setting for a chat show. As usual there is a warm up comedian. For this BBC2 Show, it was the outstanding Steve Royle, entertaining the audience with his jokes, anecdotes and magic ball tricks! - I have never seen anything quite like it, he was juggling with balls only using his mouth and no hands, an insanely weird and wonderful talent. 

The first guest on the show was the one and only Queen of The Vic, EastEnders Legend Barbara Windsor. Babs took to the stage glowing with energy, fulfilling the audience with extremely interesting and enlightening stories about her career. She is a very inspirational genuine woman, who balances her elocution background with her EastEnd cockney roots. The night wouldn't have been complete without her cheeky Carry On girl banter, and her famous Peggy Mitchell liner "get outta my pub". 

The second guest was Michelin star chef and owner of 'The Fat Duck' Heston Blumenthal. (Of course the first joke had to involve the immaturity of swapping the F and the D around) Heston shared with us his successes of opening his own business with a passion for cooking and science. His menu is like no other menu anywhere in the world. That was securely confirmed after a game of 'Meal or No Meal' with all the suspected no meals, actually being meals. Just to name a few: Calf's Brain Custard, Pig Nipple Scratchings, Bacon and Egg ice cream, Snail Porridge and Sausage on stick lickable Wallpaper... I think I should let you digest that. I couldn't imagine any other dining experience that could top the flavour, sensory appeal and theatrical nature of Blumenthal's concoction of experimental dishes. 

The final guests were harmonic manband 'The Overtones', a refreshing and doo wop talent which had the audience bopping and swaying in their seats to the rhythm. Their infectious personalities and impressive vocal range filled the atmosphere with an overwhelming buzz. It was the perfect way to end an enjoyable night. Follow them on Twitter @the_overtones and have a listen to their single 'Say What I Feel' here. 

I look forward to when it is aired, to see how they cut down over 3 hours of footage to only half an hour. I will post the episode to my blog in the near future.