A Cincinnati area judge this week
banned live blogging and all cameras and recording devices from being used during the trial of
Cheryl McCafferty, who is accused of killing her husband.
The judge's decision is an example of how difficult it can be for journalists to cover trials using online technology.
NBC's "Dateline" crews had installed three cameras in the courtroom for their coverage of the trial. The network planned to send a video feed to a media room for other news outlets to use. Just as the trial was about to begin, however, Judge Julie Reinhardt Ward called a special hearing and banned all cameras and computers from the courtroom. She ruled that reporters would have to cover the trial with just notebooks and pens.
A reporter blogging for WCPO-TV wrote that Jill Meyer, an attorney for several Cincinnati news outlets, said she was surprised by the ban. Meyer had filed a motion asking the judge to reconsider the decision, but "the judge shook her head no" and said the media would not be allowed to post more than "snippets":
Earlier in the day she denied bloggers from local media outlets to have access to the courtroom with computers in-hand. She also did not want testimony from the witnesses live-streamed via the Web or recited in its entirety.
Furthermore, the judge stated in the hearing that the media could; however, use "snippets" of witnesses' testimony. (Later Meyer questioned the media, how it’s possible to define "snippets" of testimony.)
Meyer "respectfully requested a change" in her decision regarding cameras and blogs, but during her request the judge shook her head no.
Judge Reinhardt Ward asked the attorney to define what 'blogging' is for her. She asked is it not gossiping over the Internet?
"It's not gossip -- it's more immediate news," Meyer said. "News media has the ability to deliver information in a variety of ways." And by blogging, she said, media can get the news to the public faster.
