Week 8: The Justice Gap

On Monday the biggest breaking story on the Today programme was the announcement that internet companies Google and Microsoft were going to block 100,000 search engine results relating to images of child abuse. This was the top story for most papers, and certainly breaking news for online websites. We agreed in the Skype conference that we had covered a lot of miscarriage of justice stories, and that we needed to add variation to the website. Therefore, I suggested to the editor that I could cover this topic with it being a big current issue. To move the story on from the new changes made I wanted to get the angle that addressed the victims involved, I did this by contacting children's charities to get their view on on the new changes. After speaking with the media team at the NSPCC I was in contact with the head of Child Saftey Online, following the phone interview I transcribed what she said and wrote my article up that outlined what changes she felt still needed to be done. To view the article click the headline link below.

This week was a good example of how to address the people that are affected by the story rather then the story itself and move it on. This is something the editor has always been in favour of so rather then leading with the story about Google blocking child porn, I lead with the reaction by the leading children's charity. Every story in journalism has to engage human interest, if no one is affected by it no audience will want to read it, therefore getting the reaction to the initial story is really important in addressing a fresh article.

More networks spreading ‘poisonous’ child abuse imagery need to be tackled

Also this week I was covering a sexual offence court report on Winchester News Online. After speaking with the victim support group a few weeks back regarding the changes to the victims code I thought it would be good to do a follow up and re-address this story using the court report as a case study. The man was convicted of 20 offences including rape over a period of eight years, he abused women who he was seeing and therefore this was a big case whereby the victims had to come forward in court and re-live these terrible experiences. I think it's important to address the bravery of the victims as speaking up in court is a difficult process. I used the interview from the victim support group and the officer leading the case to write an article about the significance of impact statements, but to move the article on, I got the view of a defence barrister to find out how beneficial they thought this new right would be and whether it gives victims unrealistic expectations. Speaking with the barrister was really interesting to hear it from a different perspective. Although the Government have introduced this new right, the barrister pointed out how victims have always been considered throughout the process, just not in a way that exploited to the public exactly how they were feeling. That is not to say they were not considered by the judge, they always have been. The benefit of reading the statements aloud in full in court raised doubts in the barristers mind. To read the full article click the headline below.

Impact statements may raise ‘unrealistic expectations’ for victims

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.