Court Cases

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I've been working on the YFZ Ranch/FLDS story. Which brings me to a new post-- court cases. They can be difficult especially since in local tv, you don't generally get to cover the whole trial, just the opening, closing and verdict. It's really hard to be parachuted in to cover the end of the trial and be expected to get everything when it's the first time you've stepped foot in the courtroom.

Here are some suggestions:

If at all possible, have the same reporter do beginning and end of trial. Let them be in the court as much as they can so they can know the players and chat them up. Sometimes the media is sent into an overflow room-- which is fine, you can still hear testimony, except that I you won't be able to recognize all the main people and develop a rapport with them.

If you can't keep your reporter in the court through the whole trial (and most can't) at least try to have a body in the court. Have an intern who's gathering dust at the desk? Send them and have them make contact with people (daily) and monitor developements. Later, they can hang with the photographer to show them who's who on entries and exits. After the verdict, they can also grab interviews for you.

Having the same photog covering the trial throughout can also be helpful-- for the same reason that they'll know who the players are.

Make friends with the folks in the judge's office. Put requests in early to talk with jurors. Make sure you have a couple names on any contact lists they may have.