No: an eye on government

Article Abstract:

Requiring Nina Totenberg and Timothy Phelps to divulge their sources in the US Senate's investigation into who leaked Anita Hill's sexual harassment charges to the press, would have been ill-advised and dangerous. The courts have held that only the most unusual cases warrant forcing journalists to name their sources, since forced disclosure would seriously hamper the press's goal of making public information of concern available to the public. This case is a stellar example of that holding. The press privilege safeguards a societal interest.

Laws, regulations and rules, Freedom of speech, Confidential communications, Journalistic privilege, Totenberg, Nina, Phelps, Timothy M.

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Yes: cameras reflect the process, for better or worse

Article Abstract:

Cameras in the courtroom do not create the problems often recently attributed to them, they simply reveal an often unflattering reality. The grandstanding of lawyers in the OJ Simpson case, and the trial's length, are not the fault of the cameras in that courtroom, as such problems have pervaded many notorious but non-televised trials. The only reason to bar the cameras from that court, after they were accepted by both prosecution and defense, would be to prohibit public observation of a public function.

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No: tabloid television does not belong at trial

Article Abstract:

The presence of television cameras in the courtroom corrupts the judicial process without serving any apparent public good, though it does satisfy a certain prurient interest. Only high-profile cases attract the interest of tv executives, and these cases rarely elucidate any points important to the administration of justice in general. Public concern over OJ Simpson's Fourth Amendment rights did not translate into resistance when Congress promptly gutted those rights.

Television, Sensationalism, Sensationalism in television

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