Justice must not only be done; it must be seen to be done

Court reporters are usually huddled in the press box, with their notebooks in hand and 100wpm shorthand under their belt, but now with the exception of certain cases, they can rely on one video-journalist to capture the proceedings live from inside the courtroom. 

Since 1925, cameras have been banned in courtrooms in England and Wales, and journalists have lived by their mantra of being ‘the eyes and ears for the public’. This ban was lifted at the end of last year when cameras were installed at the Court of Appeal meaning access would no longer stop at the door.

The courtroom has always been a rich source of stories for journalists. The gripping and gruesome quotes in the judges’ summing up - captivates readers, leaving them hooked and astonished by some of the most horrendous acts committed by humans. However, some may find that they do not have the time to grab the daily newspaper and that watching a visually powerful image, on the go, is far more engaging, accessible and efficient.

Anyone interested in the legal system can choose to switch on and follow the chosen televised case. The idea here is that justice will not only be done, but will also be seen to be done, targeting a larger audience by providing transparency and open access to justice for all. We should consider that this may come at a cost for the reputation of journalists, as the public may lose trust in editors who risk sensationalising content that may be perceived as entertainment rather than for the purpose of reporting news. Particularly if the defendant has previously been in the media spotlight, it may feel as though journalists are glorifying their trial as it’s aired or splashed across front pages. 

The principle of televising proceedings will be applauded by many in the legal profession, with the general thought that it was long overdue. Although many may gain an educational insight in watching it, it is easy to fall into the trap of watching for the sheer pleasure of seeing the most recently publically ‘hated’ figure, ridiculed in the hot seat. However, doesn’t this tarnish the philosophy that justice should be a serious matter?

What’s to say that people won’t play up to the cameras? 

We have to consider the behaviour of the judges and the lawyers here. They know they are being watched. Take for instance the current case of Oscar Pistorius in South Africa. He is a public figure that has been in the media for over a year now since it was reported that he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. Although we cannot see Pistorius when he is in the witness dock, we can hear all of his answers and emotional sobs. This really dramatises the case, bringing the trial to life, as viewers are hooked as it unfolds by the day.

We have seen the prosecutor laugh in response to Pistorius’ answer, and the judge demand for the public gallery to stop their careless whispers, and to reiterate that this is not an entertaining matter. It can be argued that a high profile case such as this, with a vast amount of public attention on their every move, heightens the tension and pressure for those involved. We cannot ignore the fear and anguish that the defendant may feel, and more importantly the victims who may be put off the idea of coming forward. After all anyone can tune in and watch their personal and private ‘business’. This is potentially fatal, leading to a new generation of silent victims who have been deterred from coming forward.

Taking these new advances into factor, rumour has it that television companies don’t want it to stop there. We may be able to hear them, but what they really want is to be able to see the ‘celebrity’ figure in the dock framed for shameful charges. They may argue that it would make good TV, but it could be deemed to be a mockery to the criminal justice system.

Going to court is not on an average person’s daily agenda, but many more are likely to turn on the TV in the comfort of their own home. When people watch the news they are usually faced with a journalist speaking outside the usual bland court building, with the occasional glance to their notebooks in hand. Often when producing a video report it lacks visuals, with merely a mug shot, or the rushes of the accused walking in and out of the court. With the luxury of gaining access in to the courts, we can avoid the robotic and structured reports that usually involve a verbal reel of facts. Crime and the courts may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and therefore those without an interest will find listening to legal argument and court jargon pretty dull, repetitive and dreary. 

With the murder trial of Pistorius, we have seen him in the dock for days on end for hours at a time. Broadcasters, in particular Sky News, produce a special programme to repeatedly play the highlights of the day.

Social media has also played a significant role in reaching a larger audience, with journalists tweeting live from inside the courtroom. This live feed recaps what is being heard in court. 

Other features include subtitles on the screen when the defendant’s mutterings are not audible, and as a viewer we can see photographs and exhibits, within reason, when the legal teams refer to them.

Reporting on criminal proceedings demonstrates responsible journalism as it requires ethical judgement and a strong knowledge of what is safe to report when trespassing on legal ground. Audience trust is vitally important, and the reputation of a court reporter boils down to whether it is legally sound, abiding by the law of contempt of court.

Proceedings in the country’s highest court in the UK, The Supreme Court were already streamed Live on the internet, but now with access into the Court of Appeal the next step is awaiting the approval for the Government to consider filming inside the Crown Court.

This has been a landmark moment for Justice and Journalism, but it raises the question of whether it will end here, or if broadcasters will demand to see more.

Reporting Crime

Journalists reporting crime must be aware of two risks prejudice and contempt.

When a case is legally active - that is when police make an arrest, a person is charged, magistrates issue a summons or an arrest warrant is issued - then it is this time frame where reporters must be aware of the risks up until the case is closed.

It is crucial to stop any kind of prejudicial content being published in the public domain before the accused has been trialled by a jury to prevent any bad characteristics swaying the jurys judgement. the jury will be reminded by the judge to only consider the evidence they hear in court, to reach a verdict beyond reasonable doubt.

In the media at the moment there is a lot of coverage from Edinburgh surrounding the story of Mikeeal Kular, initially reported as a missing boy by his mother. It later transpired that his body was found dead and his mother was charged. She appeared in court at a private hearing where journalists were forbidden to enter The Sheriff Court. Before her court appearance the Mail on Sunday published an article detailing the mothers 'partying' lifestyle, the headline read "Party lifestyle for Mikaeels mother who called herself the dancing queen" - This was criticised by others for it's prejudicial content. As mentioned earlier, it brings up characteristics that portray her in a negative light, breaching her right to a fair trial.

If a formal complaint was made, journalists would only have a defence known as the fade factor. If a trial was to take place six months down the line, a mitigating factor would be the fact it would fade from the press over time.

Also in the press recently is Lord Rennard who has been suspended from the liberal democrat party unless he apologises over sexual harassment claims. Although all his criminal charges have been dropped, a victim could now dispute this in a civil court - on the balance of probabilities.

The Key stages in a trial are:
Prosecution opening
Key prosecution witnesses
Defence opening
Key Defence witnesses
Judges summing up
Jury sent out, deliberation and verdict
Sentencing

Court reports follow strict rules, there is strictly no recording inside the court.

Reports must be fair accurate and contemporaneous - published at the first available opportunity. 

There are three categories of offence:
1. Indictable only - sentencing in crown court for serious offences, prison 5yrs+
2. Either way offences - this can be heard in a magistrates or crown court.
3. Summary offences - stays with magistrates court

The section 8C reporting restrictions automatically apply for cases at magistrates courts in which the defendant pleads not guilty. They ban publication of any rulings made in pre-trial hearings on admissibility of evidence and points of law. Additionally the proceedings, in those hearings concerning applications for such rulings including legal argument and discussion about whether such a ruling should apply. While these restrictions apply the media can only report seven categories of information, which are listed below.

1. Names of defendants, ages, addresses
2. Charges faced
3. Name of court and magistrates names
4. Names of solicitors or barristers present
5. Date and place, whether it was adjourned
6. Any arrangements as to bail
7. Whether legal aid was granted
8. The fact that reporting restrictions are in force

The exception here, is with juveniles. Anyone under the age of 18 cannot be named.

As a crime reporter the main thing to be aware of is the laws surrounding contempt of court, you can never be too safe and should continuously be conscious that everything you report is fact and legally sound. Call the lawyer to double check what you are about to broadcast is safe if in doubt, and always check with an editor before clicking that all important 'publish' button to ensure it won't be contested in court. 

Introduction to Media Law and Ethics

“If in doubt leave it out.” These are the wise words of Ian Anderson, former BBC editor. Every journalist needs to be aware of the regulatory body’s OFCOM and the Press Complaints Commission, educating ourselves on law and ethics to ensure that we would be able to recognise risks within copy. As a journalist we need to have a sixth sense of danger, constantly questioning what ultimately is safe to produce a report that is legally sound and entirely without error.  

This week we have seen three showbiz stars, in the dock for charges relating to indecent and sexual assault. Plastering the front pages of every newspaper, court reports covering the trials of William Roache, Rolf Harris and DJ Dave Lee Travis took the media by storm. Additionally the trial of Nigella’s Lawson’s assistants which left the celebrity cook feeling as though as a witness she was the one in the dock, after secrets unravelled relating to her past involving drugs.  These are just a few examples of how court is a rich source of stories for journalists, and with several important laws surrounding contempt of court, it is crucial that they know the laws with reporting the courts. Detailed notes on this can be found here. (This includes a detailed diagram of the legal court system.)

The press are currently under scrutiny following the Leveson Inquiry, and due to the phone hacking revelation there is now a standoff between politicians and the press over press regulation. David Cameron argued that the PCC failed after a ‘meaningless’ and inadequate report into phone hacking, leading to row over who polices the press? This could be the biggest shift in media policy that we will see.

There is two part division in law: criminal and civil. The difference being that criminal is a crime against society e.g robbery, murder, assault and civil is a dispute between two parties for example family law or divorce. 

A famous libel case known as McLibel, was the longest running case in English history. The battle was between McDonalds and the McLibel two: (Steel & Morris) over a pamphlet that was critical of the company. ‘What’s wrong with McDonald’s: Everything they don’t want you to know,’ was the title of their leaflet. The judge ruled that some of the claims were libellous but other were true.  The original case lasting 10 years, awarded Macdonalds £40k but they announced that they did not plan to collect this money from the Courts. Following this decision the European court of Human Rights ruled that the original trial denied the two a fair trial, breaching Article 6 (right to a fair trial) and Article 10 (right to freedom of expression) ordering the UK government to pay Steel and Morris £57k in compensation.

Over the coming weeks we will be discussing all the areas within law including confidentiality, privacy, freedom of information, copy right, codes of conduct, court reporting etc so watch this space for more to follow on media law. 

Sex predator jailed for ‘humiliating and degrading’ attacks on women

A sex predator has been jailed for 19 years after he was found guilty of 20 offences including rape and sexual offences, spanning over a period of eight years.

Paul Kent, of no fixed abode, was described by the judge as a man with an “armour plated sexual arrogance” after he “blagged his way” through the trial at Winchester Crown Court.

The public gallery, packed with victims and their families, listened tearfully as the barrister read out their impact statements before the judge’s sentence.

One victim said, “she felt worthless” and attempted suicide. Another victim said she suffered nightmares and “every time she closed her eyes she would see Paul Kent’s face.”

Officer in the case, Detective Constable Louise Trigg told WINOL: “The sex offence he committed against them, plus a lot of humiliating and degrading things that he made them do as well, was just absolutely appalling.

“What he made these ladies do was terrible,” adding: “I don’t think it’ll be something they will ever forget I think it’s going to affect them for the rest of their lives.”

She praised the victims for their courage in coming forward: “They’re just extremely brave because to go through that in the first place must be awful but to then relive it and talk about it in front of people you don’t know and be judged on what you’re saying and questioned about it must be absolutely horrific, but they were all strong.”

Passing sentence, Judge Guy Boney said to Kent: “not once did you express one smidgeon of remorse or sorrow,” and said he had “deliberately treated them not just badly but brutally.”
The 37-year-old was sentenced to 19 years in prison, and will remain on the sexual offenders register for life.
 
DC Trigg was praised by the judge for her hard work in bringing this case to justice. In response she said: “I feel as if what I joined the police for I have achieved, I have made a difference and put someone in prison, that deserves to be there and hopefully made a difference to the victims in that they can get on with their lives now.”

Week 5 - The Justice Gap

Mansfield and Zander clash over legal aid funding

Professor Michael Zander came to the University of Winchester to speak at the launch of the new Crime and Justice Centre, I transcribed his lecture notes here.  During his speech he commented on the matter of legal aid funding, backing that our legal aid system is better then any other country. During the interview for the Justice Gap with Michael Mansfield I threw him the question on what he thought about this comment and he responded against what Zander had to say.

This week I realised how important it is to re-address the people you speak to and share the article you have written about them rather then shy away in hope they won't see what you reported. Mansfield responded to Zander's comments therefore we needed to give Zander the right to reply. The argument here is that Mansfield believes the system is broken, but Zander supports that the legal system still works. However, Zander wanted to make it clear that he did not think the cuts were a good thing, so an additional line that directly addressed the fact he thought the cuts were terrible was included.

Click the headline links or view the full article here. This week marked an increase in traffic to the website, peaking close to 1000 unique views daily.

Victims to be allowed to address court before sentence

Also this week, I wrote an article on the new code which gives victims the right to read out their personal statements in court. To push my article on from the recycled press release reports I wanted to get my own quotes, I also looked to localise the story in order to use it on WINOL. I wanted to add human interest to this story by speaking with a victim that would want to comment on the new changes. However I was unsuccessful at short notice when trying to get hold of a case study as there are several issues surrounding confidentiality.

After contacting the local Victim Support Group I set up a video interview with Carolyn Martin who works at the Witness Services at Winchester Crown Court who are there to support and protect victims and witnesses. The interview went well, and it was good to build a contact from within the court and introduce myself and make the publication more known to them. A short clip of the interview was used as an OOVACT on WINOL, but as the bulletin was light on stories this week, the news editor asked for approx 35 seconds to beef out the bulletin a bit more. This interview worked well both nationally and locally and therefore it was published on both the Justice Gap website, and WINOL.

Cameras begin filming courts for first time

Furthermore, on Wednesday I was working on a text story regarding the plans for cameras to film inside the courts for the first time. When this was first brought to my attention I researched it, and saw other newspapers such as The Guardian reported the proposed filming would begin on the following Monday if the legislation is approved. After phoning the Court of Appeal to get the latest information, I was informed that it had been approved and it was going to begin the next day. Speaking with the Ministry of Justice press office I was sent the latest press release which was embargoed until 6pm that day. This was a highlight for me, working on an article before another publication had reported on it, and before the breaking news was due to go live.

Using social media we tweeted the article as it was published dead on 6pm, using the hash tag #camerasincourt. The Justice Gap reported on this landmark change moments before Sky News did, which I was extremely proud of. Full article here. 

Click the headline links to view each article.

Reporting the Courts

This week I attended a first year media law lecture on reporting the courts. As the specialist court reporter for WINOL I was asked to come and speak to the new generation of journalists, about my experiences as a crime and court reporter.

For anyone interested in learning about the UK court system here are my notes.

Courtesy of Winchester Journalism 

Two Jurisdictions: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland

In the UK, the supreme power lies in Her Majesty the Queen. The royal prerogative is the body recognised in common law and sometimes in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy. The Queen does not have to obey parliament as she has the overruling power. The government are there to advise the Queen, and Palace Whitehall which is the main residence for English Monarchs help run the country.

Executive - They run the country - (HM the Queen) - Whitehall

Legislature - Keep it in check (Parliament) - Westminster

Judiciary - Mediates between executive and legislature - Administer Justice

Society - Freedom to voice opinion

Crime is an offence against society as a whole e.g murder

Civil law is a dispute between two citizens e.g divorce

Standard of Proof - Beyond reasonable doubt 
The jury must prove that the accused did it beyond doubt. They must find the person not guilty unless they are absolutely sure that only this person has committed the crime.

Criminal division is all about punishment, it is not about compensation for victims unlike civil law.

Crime is a breach of a statute (Law passed by Parliament). Police can arrest on suspicion, but must have 'reasonable grounds' for arrest.

It is known as a committal when someone who has been arrested for a serious crime is held in a cell for up to 24 hours. When they are charged they charged they appear before a magistrates, the defendant in a serious case will then be sent to a crown court to be trialled in front of a jury.

A minor offence, known as non indictable are processed in a Magistrates Court. In a Magistrates court there is no jury. An indictable, major offence is then processed by the Crown Court where a jury is present. The jury is made up of 12 randomly selected citizens, no one is allowed to talk to the jury incase they influence or intimidate them.

If people fail to attend their trial it is treated as a separate offence known as 'absconding'.

The defendant has not been given a fair trial if the jury are prejudice, this means that they have pre-judged them. If this occurs, the defendant will be let of as the judge will deem it as unsafe.

The accused can either be held on remand which is down in the cells, or be granted bail. For lesser offences, they can be on bail for up to two years before there trial reaches the Crown Court. Police can refuse bail if they think the defendant is a danger to the public or if they think they will abscond and run away. In terrorism cases the defendant can be held without charge for 28 days.

In the British System the person accused must be present in the court.

Fraudster jailed for bank scam

A father has been jailed for his involvement in fraud offences after he had intentions of scamming up to £25000.

Earl George Wisdom (pictured), from Northborough Road, London was caught in possession of personal banking details and a bank card under an associate’s name. Paperwork was recovered from his car with bank details on it that had been supplied by a former bank employee.

The court heard that a sum of £10,000 was transferred from a Bank of Ireland account in two lump sums, but the origin of this money is unknown.

The 31-year-old who has previous convictions involving Class A drugs was arrested before he could withdraw the money from his associate’s bank.

Winchester Crown Court heard that passwords and banking details of two females were stored on his mobile allowing him to withdrawal a combined total of £14000 from their accounts.

Wisdom claimed his role was to transport an unnamed woman to the bank for her to withdraw money under a false identity.

Detective Constable Graham Robson told WINOL that the victims have been reimbursed by Halifax.

Halifax said in a statement: “The security of our service and of our customers’ accounts is absolutely our number one priority. We’re regularly improving our security to prevent fraud.”

Passing sentence Judge Graham Cottle described Wisdom as “thoroughly dishonest” and sentenced him to 15 months in prison.

‘Danger to the public’ jailed for seven years after knifepoint robbery

A drink and drug user has been jailed for seven years after he robbed and threatened a teenager with a craft knife earlier this year.

Lewis Day Robinson from Junction Road, Andover, was released from prison in November, and within eight weeks has reoffended.

Robinson pushed the victim up against a chain link fence and held a yellow craft knife against the 17-year-old teenager’s throat.

The attack happened on the 7th of January at about 2pm along a pathway near Charlton Road in Andover.

The Judge described the weapon as “extremely sharp” and “extremely dangerous” and although the victim had no physical injury, it had the potential to be “lethal”.

Winchester Crown Court heard that he stole a £10 note from the victim’s wallet and some tobacco.

Passing sentence, Judge Peter Henry said: “You have for a young man the most appalling record”.

The 20-year old has 17 previous convictions and 29 offences, the Judge imposed a lengthy sentence of seven years behind bars, as he considered him to be: “a danger to the public”.

DC Paul Harfeild told WINOL that Robinson was caught on CCTV that morning in Wilkinson’s in Andover paying for the 49p craft knife.

Gambling addict scams £50k from hospital

A manager has been jailed for 18 months after fraud investigators found out he had stolen £56,000 from a Hampshire Hospital.

Paul Ball, from Derwent Close, Horndean, was employed by the NHS Trust as a supervisor in the cafeteria of Basingstoke Hospital.

Winchester Crown Court heard that the 49-year-old man was motivated by gaining money to feed his gambling addiction.

Ball was meticulous in the planning of the scam. The first step was to make sure he took the money from the canteen to the cashier office on his own. The rule is that two employers should be present at all times.

Once he was out of view he would take some of the bags of money to his car. Taking steps to make sure he wasn’t seen.

The scam only worked because he took small amounts of money over a period of months.

Nobody noticed the missing money because the paperwork was kept in order.
But eventually workers became suspicious about missing receipts.

They complained to Ball, who took no action. It was then that the fraud investigators stepped in.

Passing sentence Judge Keith Cutler said: “It is very sad that you find yourself before me,” and said that his actions have brought him nothing but “loss and shame”.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS foundation trust said in a statement: “This case demonstrates that the Trust will not tolerate theft and fraud committed. Action is currently being taken to recover the monies that were stolen.”

Brother Brawls with Bouncer

A 22-year-old man has been convicted of affray after he punched a bouncer who was trying to get his brother to leave.

Winchester Crown Court heard that Nicholas Lauro, from Glebe Lane, Hartley Wintney, went out with his brothers to Jaxx nightclub in Fleet, October 2011.

When Nicholas’ brother refused to leave the club, the bouncer pushed him away from the door and forced him to the ground.

It was when other bouncers left the club to help their colleague, who was struggling to keep the brother on the ground, that Nicholas Lauro got involved and punched a bouncer. It was all caught on CCTV.

The judge, Miss Recorder Lamb, sentenced him to 200 hours of unpaid work and fined him £300 for prosecution costs. He was further punished by the Pubwatch scheme that banned him from drinking in the Fleet Area.

Southampton man jailed for class-A drug haul

A drug user has been sentenced to three years in prison after he was caught in possession of crack cocaine and heroin.

David Caines was stopped outside his home address, Golden Grove in Southampton, where he was found with class A drugs with a street value of about £1500.

Officers searched the property where they found equipment that Caines used as part of his drug dealing.

Judge Jane Miller said Caine's was clearly a street dealer with links to a drug network in Southampton.

The court heard that the 48-year-old man received no financial payment but was motivated by obtaining drugs for himself.

Hampshire Constabulary launched Operation Fortress in May 2012 to tackle the issue of drug related violence in Southampton.

Detective Superintendent Kath Barnes said "A dedicated team of police officers and staff was set up to investigate incidents of drug-related violence and target those involved."

“Our aims are to restrict the supply of drugs while reducing the demand for drugs and helping communities to rebuild themselves free from the fear of violence."


23/1/13 WINOL 

Snowy trip down to Winchester Crown Court

It's no secret to us all that it snowed today, every inch of Winchester ground was covered in white fluffy snow. But, the news never sleeps, and this week is crucial, as it's the first WINOL back, and the MA's have joined the team. My new title is Chief Crime Reporter, which is developing upon the same news beat as last semester, as this is my core interest. This involves regular trips down the the crown court as you can imagine is a great source for crime stories in the local area. Regardless of the torrential snowflakes turning to ice, I headed down to court. It was certainly a slippery and bumpy journey but as I was shuffling my way through the snow slowly and steadily it gave me the chance to take some pictures of my surroundings, so I thought it would be nice to share them with you.

                            

                              

                                         

It's amazing how snow can cause so much disruption, it looks beautiful but it causes endless chaos, transport delays, schools closing, people not able to get to their jobs, and delays in every way imaginable. Most see it as a day off, but in terms of the law courts, its a requirement and therefore cannot just be shut down, they had to compromise with what judges were available and work around the delays of defendants and barristers getting in, but eventually most of the scheduled cases were heard.

What to expect with Court Reporting

Court reporting is known as one of the toughest reporting jobs in Journalism. You enter a place where you encounter the highest and the lowest of society; the professionals and the suspected criminals.

As a court reporter you have to be thick skinned. You have to expect to hear all the gory details of the crime at hand, without letting it faze you. It is extremely hard at times, to be in such an intense environment hearing the summing up amongst the defendant’s family and friends, but your main focus has to be on getting down all the details; ensuring your facts are exactly how you hear them in court. This is where shorthand comes in handy, it does speed things up if you can do it, but if you’re a fast writer longhand works just as well.

Your notepad is your bible, it’s important to keep hold of everything you write in court as backup, in-case somewhere down the line someone tries to sue you for libel. If you have the facts written down about what was said in court, then you have a Qualified Privilege defence.

Entering court initially is daunting, passing by security, and anxiously sitting outside the court rooms twiddling your thumbs until the next case is called. Court is an extremely isolated and lonely place, especially as a reporter when you go alone, but, when you get a good story you know your news editor will want it gives you the drive. You can be sitting in court for endless hours at a time, and still not find a good story that you can legally report on, so time and patience is crucial. Be sure to know your media law, in particular about defamation and the risks of contempt of court.

Writing the script is the next challenge you are faced with. For TV it needs to remain simple and to the point, summarising all the key facts in a way that is fast, accurate and fair. The most important part is to legally identify the defendant with their name, age and address, ensuring it is all spelt correctly for print - don’t be afraid to ask people how it’s spelt! As Journalists, it's sometimes worth playing dumb. This way you have positively identified them, and at no risk of defaming someone else, who could potentially sue you for a large sum of money!

When you are in court, you will hear a lot of jargon from the Defence, Prosecution and Judge, you do not need to worry about this, just get down everything you understand, in particular any quotes from the Judge. Contacts will rescue you when in doubt, for instance, Court Listings can confirm identification, and the Crown Prosecution Service can confirm details on the case. These are the people you will work closely with; you have to be confident and build a friendly relationship with professionals that you wouldn't normally speak to. In particular, the police, you need to know the name of the officer in charge of the case to see if they can give you any photographs or footage that they may have, in addition, with their name you can fill out a convicted photo request form to get a mug shot. Often the officer in charge is present at the court so if you go up to them and introduce yourself they can help you, either that or call the police headquarters and get in touch that way. There will be countless times you will be passed on to different departments, and feel as though you are not getting anywhere, but maintain persistence, and chase up calls, don’t wait for them to contact you back, because it’s likely that they won’t.

A good TV report has to be visual, court reports can be extremely dull, and it’s a challenge to make it more visually appealing for the viewer. Photographic features which are ideal to illustrate your report are a mug shot of the defendant, police photographs if there is evidence to be seen, a piece to camera on location and cutaway shots of the scene, if you can get there. Regularly you see reports whereby the reporter is stood outside the law courts, this can be visually mundane, so depending upon the time scale you have if you can get to the scene of the crime, it lifts the piece, adding context and colour.

We are seen as the nosy hacks of society, but you are there to do your job, so don’t let any evil stares, or off-putting glares put you off. Don’t be shy to speak to people, they are your richest source, just be sure to be dressed smart, and act professionally in court, and in return you will be treated in a respectful manner. Although you may feel as though you are intruding upon peoples personal lives, it is called a public gallery for a reason, no one can stop you from going, and it’s a reporter’s job to share what is the public's interest.

Here are some examples of the work I carried out as a Court Reporter -

Full YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/024christina

WINOL CRITICAL REVIEW YEAR 2 SEMESTER 1

WINOL has undoubtedly progressed this semester covering all forms of broadcast such as TV, Online  radio and social media. Five teams lead our project: news, features, sport, production and web, and together the WINOL team has worked tremendously hard in achieving the highest ranked student publication in the country; receiving many national BJTC awards. WINOL strives to continuously improve, and in doing so we persistently observe our competitor East London Lines’ strengths and weaknesses. This semester we focused heavily on our online website www.winol.co.uk making vast changes to the layout of the site and adopting a ‘broadsheet’ style of writing. Moreover, regularly updating the website with news daily, and further promoting this on media sites such as Twitter has allowed us to reach out to a larger audience and increase our traffic flow; this was something we found our competitors initially had an upper hand on. Despite our competitors being a much larger team based in London, we have over taken them both globally and in Great Britain. WINOL’s Alexa ranking is currently [10/12/12] #10,338 in GB and #477,045 globally which has dropped dramatically from 1.8 million over the past three months, in contrast, East London Lines is over double in GB with a rank of #24,950. In comparison our local paper The Hampshire Chronicle has a global ranking of #894,774 and #43,856 in GB, these figures speak volume, as it is clear that the audience appreciation for our site is far greater targeting both the local people and students. The time spent on our site is approximately six minutes, whereas East London Lines is only two minutes, this is primarily due to our weekly news bulletin, but the content on our site has a ‘live’ feed by having constant twitter updates and regular stories posted up; writing for the site helped me practice and develop my news writing skills. In addition to channelling out continuous content we were determined to improve the picture content on the site, ensuring that every news story had a good picture preferably with faces involved. If it was not possible to get hold of our own photograph then we used creative commons, abiding by the laws of copyright licensing. 

On top of WINOL we have covered several special events including the BJTC Awards Ceremony, HPCC debate, US American Elections, and WINOL 99 Daily News. The Hampshire Police Crime Commissioner debate saw three hundred people fill the Stripe to watch the debate live. My active role on the night was an audience runner, passing microphones in a question and answer debate; it was a privilege to be apart of an extremely high profile event, particularly as it was covered by BBC South. This role amongst my position as Floor Manager for the US Elections, allowed me to experience more of the Production led role, teaching me that organisation and timing is crucial, particularly in a ‘live’ transatlantic broadcast. The US Elections was a huge milestone for WINOL, receiving recognition and praise from www.journalism.co.uk. In the run up to the elections I produced four short packages on the main campaign issues, which could be played into the gallery to lead discussion between the presenter, experts and guests. My VTs included a graphic of the candidates and some fair dealing clips from YouTube of the debates; this was a skill I did not know before. On the morning of the election we found out that the results were in and Obama had won. The scripting had to be changed, VTs cut down, but this is the art of live TV and I think WINOL handled it extremely well turning the show in to a reaction based programme.

Sound Radio launched Tuesday Takeover. I contributed weekly, writing news stories, and adapting my court report scripts to a radio style, abiding by contempt of court laws by legally identifying the defendant, and simply summing up the story and the sentencing. I presented one of the news bulletins and recorded an in-studio discussion, which could be recycled as an audio cut; both of which helped me practice my delivery and build confidence. 

For the first semester of WINOL I was appointed Crime and Court Reporter, this entailed making close contacts with Law Courts, Crown Prosecution Service, Hampshire Constabulary and Police Press Offices. Court reporting was an extremely challenging but exciting position to fill; I regularly encountered two main issues. Firstly, finding pictures that made my report visually interesting, and secondly legal identification and scripting. As court reporter, it allowed me to put the law module from first year in to practice, reporting the facts accurately with a Qualified Privilege defence, ensuring that I was not at risk of libel or contempt of court. My packages heavily relied on the scripts and unless it was fast, accurate and fair abiding by the laws of defamation it would not be broadcasted, I found scripting a challenge at first but feel I improved with guidance from Brian Thornton and Ben Mitchell from the Press Association. Unfortunately I was not able to use shorthand in court quick enough to keep up to speed accurately, but this is a goal to work towards.

In time, I built contacts with the CPS and with Court Listings who verified identification such as date of birth, address and any spellings I was unsure of, this way I could be sure that my report was accurate. For most of my packages I obtained a mug shot from the Police, but in two instances I learned that this was not possible, as the defendant did not receive a custodial sentence. In week eight my package had no visual element to it, and when trying to get hold of a picture of the defendant the only source I had was Solent News who charge a fee for their photography. As Geoff Hill, editor for channel 5 news suggested I could resolve this by having a cameraman waiting outside of the courts to film them as they walk out. In order to get a convicted photograph I had to fill out a form where often the missing detail was the name of the officer in charge, initially the CPS helped me identify the officer in charge of the case, but they claimed this was against their protocol and that I should seek this information from Police headquarters. Some of the officers in charge of the cases were extremely helpful, talking to them directly, allowed me to ask if there were any police photos they could send me to help me illustrate the case. In week three I covered a case regarding a man who set himself on fire in a suicide attempt; visually it was extremely eye-catching as I had police photos of the inside and outside burnt property. To begin with I had these photographs merged in the middle of my package, however I soon learnt that the best images had to be at the top of the package, ensuring the voice over was re-scripted so the words matched the pictures. The fire happened in Totton, which was within driving distance, allowing me to do my PTC on location; this worked far better then outside the courts as it added context and meant I could film the flat from the outside, and have extra cutaways. This package had all the features needed for a successful court report, a piece to camera on location, a mug shot from police, exclusive police photographs as evidence of the damage, and a revised script with no legal issues. However, I made a huge mistake by letting a witness pass me by, without asking if she would comment on camera. This was a lesson well learnt.

I often went down to court and came out without a story, particularly in my first week, where I hadn't got to grips with court reporting. However, I quickly moved on to a new story about cyclists safety, I did a PTC on the road affected in Southampton Wednesday morning but with a tight deadline there was no interview and it was cut down to an OOV. The shots I used were all filmed from the same angle so I learnt the importance of point of view and to vary the angles. I found that at times it was pure luck as to whether you got a good story that editorially worked. For three of my court reports I was limited to doing a PTC outside the law courts, although this is visually mundane, in certain instances it couldn't be avoided, so I experimented with other alternatives to make the package interesting. For example, creating a reconstruction of the case, ensuring it was clearly labelled and changing the colour of the footage to blue. In week six I covered a case regarding a courier who was caught with cannabis in his car boot, the props of a car and suitcase was easily accessible so I filmed a series of shots to put together a sequence illustrating this.

Week seven was my strongest week; I took a court report and related it to a wider issue of hoax calls. This meant I could arrange to set up an interview with the South Central Ambulance Service who assigned me to Paul Jefferies, the Area manager for North Hampshire. When I arrived at their office in Otterbourne I chose not to film in the control room, as this was a noisy room, with echo, therefore I opted for a quieter room where the acoustics and sound quality were good. To link into my interview I got some GVs of the control room and of the paramedic walking. The interview itself was constructed well; I ensured the questions I asked where open, relating back to the law court issue at hand, and covering the larger scope of prank calls. I didn't stop the interview until I knew I had a good sound bite that I could use in my package “it’s a matter of life and death” - this summed up the entire report, and I think it worked really well hearing it from a respected professional. That week I also had a mug shot, which scaled in on the eyes to focus on the emotion, dramatising the criminal and a PTC on location in Southampton. The weather conditions were bad in particular wind and rain affecting the quality of the sound and footage, but we worked around it finding a quieter spot. Although it was rushed and the camera had not been white balanced, when it came to editing, the colour balance tool in Final Cut Pro helped bring the colour tones back.

Aside from court, I did a crime related story in week four, which was topical to the festivity of Halloween. This week I got the chance to be more creative with my work aside from the seriousness of court. Although the story itself was regarding posters for the elderly to stop trick or treaters knocking at their door, I did my best to make it as entertaining and visually appealing as possible. My opening shot is of a creepy character knocking at the door this initial NATSOT grabs the audience’s attention, I swiftly open the same door to do my PTC, I felt this transition was creative making it more interesting rather then static. I filmed several cutaways which were not used of Halloween related clips, but this gave me the chance to be selective with what I put into the package. With this story elderly people’s opinion was vital; therefore I did some VOXPOPS of local residents. This was my backup as I tried to arrange an interview with a shop owner at One Stop regarding the matter that they would not sell eggs or flour to under 16’s, but as their press office is led by Tesco they were extremely weary of how the report may seem negative, and requested it all in writing. However, it didn't meet the tight deadline we were working to.

On two occasions throughout this semester I got a Court report out in WINOL before the Daily Echo did, particularly the arson story that made front page two weeks after the sentencing. After speaking with the reporters at the Echo who initially reported on the fire when it happened, they were naturally inquisitive to hear the details of the case and I immediately brought them up on the fact they did not have a follow up story. The second story was the child abuse story, the Echo covered the trial but they were not present at the sentencing, they put the story in their paper a week after WINOL published it. To be able to say I got a story out before the local paper did is a huge personal achievement for me. Although we are students, we are training journalists who operate similarly to any other news publication; the guest editors who came to visit us at WINOL this year have justified this.