Court Cases - Chapters 8 & 9

I think it's very important to know that the Associated Press style book requires its reporters to use the word “innocent," rather than not guilty…to guard against the word ‘not’ being dropped inadvertently.

As reporters, we would hope that there are no deals made out-of-court. Because they are conducted privately, we wouldn't be able to hear what the sentence is until after. Although out-of-courts deals aren't great for reporters, they probably are for defendents. As reporters, we would also hope that there isn't a "gag order" placed upon the case.

I was a member of the mock trial team in my high school, where I served as a witness, as well as an attorney, and understanding exactly how court proceedings worked was hard, and it's not getting any easier as I get older. I understand the evidence, opening statements, cross-examinations, and closing arguments.. but there really is so much more than that. I believe as reporters, we should try and indulge ourselves in as much of these things as possible, that way we have some idea of how things work in a court room.

"Evidence uncovered during the discovery phase of a civil case can be the source of many and important news stories," the author tells us. That's why it is especially important to pay attention during the case, because a lot of the time, new evidence is presented.
These two chapters present A LOT of information concerning criminal and civil cases, going over it once will not be enough if we are to report on either one of those cases. To truly understand it, i think it would be benefical not just to keep re-reading it, but to also go to some court cases- as a bystander and not a journalist- and just get the feel for how things work in court.