The accused is entering the courtroom: the live-tweeting of a murder trial

Knight, Megan

doi:10.1080/14682753.2017.1374681

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The boom in live blogging legal trials has led to a concomitant academic interest which thus far has lifted how the use of social media and twitter impact on open justice with a focus on the transparency, accountability and openness of legal documents (such as the preliminary investigation or judgement) and processes (from law-making, to policework, to legal trials) (Hall-Coates, 2015; Janoski-Haehlen, 2011; Johnston, 2018; Lambert, 2011; Rodrick, 2014; Small & Puddister, 2020; Winnick, 2014); how audiences interact with such reports (Coulling & Johnston, 2018; Marty et al, 2016) and; how live blogs are written (Knight, 2017). A more explicit focus on the legal professionals being depicted – how they perceive the extra scrutiny that live blogging entails – is missing, as is insight into how live blogs are related to and used by legal professionals.…”

Section: Previous Research On Live Blogs and Legal Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The criminal trial as a live event: Exploring how and why live blogs change the professional practices of judges, defence lawyers and prosecutors

Flower¹

2021

Media, Culture & Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Live blogging from legal trials has become one of the most accessible ways in which the public can gain direct insight into legal proceedings, particularly in countries where television cameras are denied entry into the courtroom. Whilst live blogging constitutes an important way of ensuring the transparency and openness of legal processes and documents – a principle known as open justice and a key component of many democratic societies – the risks stemming from opening up the courts not only to more immediate and detailed scrutiny, but also to a larger, virtual audience are lesser known. A deeper understanding of how a legal trial’s transformation into a live event due to live blogs has impacted on the legal sphere is therefore needed. The aims of this article are thus twofold: to show how live blogs are changing legal professionals’ work practices and to discuss what it is about live blogs that leads to these changes in professional practices. The analysis draws on qualitative interviews with legal professionals in Sweden and Denmark and finds that live blogs increase reflection in professional performances stemming from an awareness of performing to a virtual audience. Surveillance thus leads to performance adjustment. Live blogs also lead to changes in professionals practices and transform the audience/participant boundary into a fluid one most notably regarding the Danish respondents in comparison to those in Sweden. The article also suggests a hierarchy of liveness with live blogs considered to be less intrusive than televised trials.

show abstract

Section: Previous Research On Live Blogs and Legal Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The criminal trial as a live event: Exploring how and why live blogs change the professional practices of judges, defence lawyers and prosecutors

Flower¹

2021

Media, Culture & Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In recent years, several murder trials have attracted enormous media attention, both nationally and globally. This article contributes to the research on the coverage of murder trials, such as those of football player O. J. Simpson (Grabe, 2000), world-famous Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius (Knight, 2017), and Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik (Mogensen, 2013). Murder trial reporting is a part of media coverage devoted to court hearings and criminal trials on the court beat (Magin & Maurer, 2019).…”

Section: Court Reporters Negotiating Objectivity When Reflecting On E...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Between harm and sensationalism: Court reporters negotiating objectivity when reflecting on ethical dilemmas in the Submarine Murder Trial

Wittchen

2023

Nordicom Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The trial of amateur submarine builder Peter Madsen for the murder of the Swedish journalist Kim Wall was one of the most publicised trials in recent Danish history. Through in-depth interviews with ten prominent Danish reporters who covered the trial, this study examines how court reporters negotiate and struggle with ethical dilemmas related to objectivity as both an institutional ideal and an ethical rule under the Media Liability Act. I demonstrate how reporters negotiate and strategise to maintain objectivity in relation to facts, relevance, the telling of both sides, and the avoidance of prejudging. I further highlight the dispute between fact-based reporters and a minor group endorsing interpretive and narrative reporting and advocating for a more pragmatic approach to objectivity. A core finding is how technological advancements and massive public interest have paved the way for new ethical practices, referred to here as “strategic ritual 2.0”.

show abstract

“…Scholars have grappled with journalism in the digital age, leading the field of journalism studies to take a socio-technical turn (Carlson et al 2018). Trends identified include a rise in 'atypical newswork' (Cottle 2003, Deuze & Marjoribanks 2009, Deuze & Fortunati 2011, the presence of aggregation alongside traditional reporting as a key form of newswork (Boczkowski 2011, Anderson 2013, and the increased flexibility allowed by developments in both software and hardware (Singer 2011, Dean 2019, with contemporary court reporting practices now driven by online and social tools (Lambert 2011, Knight 2017, Johnston 2018. Certainly, while newsrooms may have shrunk during the financial crisis in journalism, they have retained a key role in news production in the UK's local newspapers, a role that has potentially even been enhanced as more newswork has been hubbed within centralised buildings (Moore 2015, Townend 2015, Howells 2016.…”

Section: Local Journalism Crime and The Courtsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It’s the Best Job on the Paper” – The Courts Beat During the Journalism Crisis

Jones

2021

Journalism Practice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Local journalism in the UK has been described as being in 'crisis'. Local newspapers have experienced years of declining circulations and staff cuts, leading to questions about how effectively those institutions can continue to perform normative functions of journalism. One of those is to report on the courts. Through analysis of 22 semistructured interviews with local newspaper reporters who cover the courts beat, agency court reporters who supply the local press, as well as broadcast journalists involved in both local and national court coverage, this paper helps to establish how the daily newswork of court journalists has developed amid a turbulent period in journalism, especially local journalism. The research finds that court reporting has been less affected than other news beats but faces a series of challenges related to financial cuts and other pressures. While the local press has become even more essential to the provision of court reporting, a central part of the news media's fourth estate role, those challenges affect the ability of court reporters to perform this function. This paper recommends that policymakers consider using a form of public funding to guarantee the future of court reporting at the local level.

show abstract

The accused is entering the courtroom: the live-tweeting of a murder trial

Cited by 8 publications

References 22 publications

The criminal trial as a live event: Exploring how and why live blogs change the professional practices of judges, defence lawyers and prosecutors

The criminal trial as a live event: Exploring how and why live blogs change the professional practices of judges, defence lawyers and prosecutors

Between harm and sensationalism: Court reporters negotiating objectivity when reflecting on ethical dilemmas in the Submarine Murder Trial

“It’s the Best Job on the Paper” – The Courts Beat During the Journalism Crisis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About