Journalist use of social media in court an issue
Gold Walkley winning reporter Kate McClymont has raised concerns about the potential impact that reporters using social media platforms, like Twitter, are having on the conduct of court cases.
In a video interview with Encore, The Sydney Morning Herald investigative journalist said that while she had recently been tweeting from the Independent Commission Against Corruption hearings into the Obeid family, she was concerned about the wider impact social media reporting could be having on the administration of justice.
“I’ve only tweeted from ICAC because there is no jury involved,” McClymont told Encore.
“But I think this is going to be an interesting legal question. As reporters, we are meant to be representing the man in the street. So what we hear and see in a court case, we are able to tell our readers. However, (there are problems with) the idea of tweeting every few moments.”
I can help but feel that Kate is just being totally righteous. Journalists don’t ‘represent’ anyone in any street? I think she had a word confusion moment. Maybe she meant ‘service’ the man in the street. Court reporting on cases should only be done by the courts via the transcript until a case is finalised. Im sure that Kate knows already that what anyone hears or sees in court is never everything submitted in evidence. Or even what happened. Truth and facts are very different. Cartoons are the future. Dig it.