Media access to court proceedings and documents in Mainland China: The changed and unchanged

This study examined the status of media access to court proceedings and documents in mainland China. In-depth and qualitative interviews with Chinese journalists revealed that they continue to face significant difficulties in attending court hearings and accessing court documents and information; especially, those involving government officials. Owing to the lack of adequate media access to courts, Chinese journalists are not able to fulfil their role of informing the public about what happens in the judicial system; it also undermines the balance and quality of court reporting. The study also found that China's courts mostly used their own online platforms to release information and broadcast trial proceedings. Consequently, the role of news media and journalists in providing court case information and promoting judicial openness has declined in the age of new media.

Prejudgment of the accused (Justice and Crime Coverage)

In some legal systems, strong prejudicial reporting can be recognized as a reason for reduced sentences in trials (e.g. in Switzerland: BGer 6B_45/2014). It is argued that the accused has already been punished by the public pillory. This variable serves to capture the extent of the implicit or explicit references to the guilt of the accused before the end of the trial (Schulz 2002). Field of application/theoretical foundation: The variable “prejudgment of the accused” is of particular relevance in the context of debates on media ethics and legal philosophy. With the use of this variable, the extent to which personal rights provisions of the defendant are respected in media coverage is discussed. Example study: Oehmer (work in progress) Information on Oehmer (work in progress) Author: Franziska Oehmer Research interest: The study focuses on three sets of questions concerning 1) the selection and representativeness of court reporting, 2) the information function of court reporting and 3) the presentation of court reporting. Object of analysis: court coverage in Swiss newspapers (Tagesanzeiger, NZZ, Neue Luzerner Zeitung, Südostschweiz, Blick, Gratiszeitung, 20Minuten) Time frame of analysis: January 2007 – December 2017 Codebook: available (see attachment) Info about variable Variable name/definition: prejudgment of the accused [Vorverurteilung des Angeklagten] Level of analysis: Actors in most covered court case in article Values: Keine Vorverurteilung: Über den Angeklagten wird nicht wertend berichtet. Indikatoren: Mutmasslicher Täter Implizite Vorverurteilung: Die Tatschuld wird implizit durch Begriffe, Wertungen oder Deutungen nahegelegt. Explizite Vorverurteilung: Die Tatschuld wird als erwiesen betrachtet. Der Angeklagt wird klar als Täter identifiziert. Indikatoren: Mörder, Täter Intercoder reliability: Holsti .88; Krippendorff’s Alpha: .56 (2 Coder) References Oehmer, Franziska. Die dritte Gewalt in den Medien. Eine repräsentative quantitative Inhaltsanalyse der Gerichtsberichterstattung Schweizer Medien (work in progress). [Justice in the media. A representative quantitative content analysis of court reporting in the Swiss media]. Schulz, U. (2002): Die rechtlichen Auswirkungen von Medienberichterstattung auf Strafverfahren. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. [The legal effects of media coverage on criminal proceedings].

Identifying news coverage (Justice and Crime Coverage)

Content analysis is often used to examine the extent to which the individual actors involved in the trial (especially the defendant) can be identified through the reporting, for example through full attribution of names, a detailed description of the person, his or her living circumstances and photos. Field of application/theoretical foundation: The variable “identifying new coverage” is of particular relevance in the context of debates on media ethics and legal philosophy. This variable is used to examine the extent to which personal rights provisions are respected in media coverage. Example study: Oehmer (work in progress) Information on Oehmer (work in progress) Author: Franziska Oehmer Research interest: The research interest of the study focuses on three sets of questions concerning 1) the selection and representativeness of court reporting, 2) the information function of court reporting and 3) the presentation of court reporting. Object of analysis: court coverage in Swiss newspapers (Tagesanzeiger, NZZ, Neue Luzerner Zeitung, Südostschweiz, Blick, Gratiszeitung, 20Minuten) Time frame of analysis: January 2007 – December 2017 Info about variable Variable name/definition: identifying news coverage [Identifizierende Berichterstattung über Opfer und Angeklagten] Level of analysis: Actors in most covered court case in article Values: Keine identifizierende Berichterstattung. Indikator: alleinige Verwendung der Bezeichnungen Opfer, Angeklagter, ... Mittlere identifizierende Berichterstattung: Aussage ist dazu geeignet, dass das unmittelbare Umfeld die Person identifizieren kann, Indikator: Nennung des Vornamens und des Anfangsbuchstabens. Große identifizierende Berichterstattung: Aussage ist dazu geeignet, das Dritte die Person identifizieren können. Indikator: Nennung des vollen Namens, Nennung des Vornamens in Verbindung mit Nennung des Berufs, Wohnsitzes und Arbeitsplatzes, ... Intercoder reliability: Holsti .73; Krippendorff’s Alpha: .57 (2 Coder) Codebook: available (see attachment) References Oehmer, Franziska. Die dritte Gewalt in den Medien. Eine repräsentative quantitative Inhaltsanalyse der Gerichtsberichterstattung Schweizer Medien (work in progress). [Justice in the media. A representative quantitative content analysis of court reporting in the Swiss media].

Sources & actors (Justice and Crime Coverage)

These variables are used to determine whose views and activities are covered in the reporting on justice. A distinction is made between the variable "actors", which is used to measure the description of acting persons, and the variable "source", that captures which persons have a direct or indirect quote. Field of application/theoretical foundation: The variable serves - among other variables – as an indicator of the representativeness of judicial reporting. Example studies: Haney & Greene (2004); Oehmer (work in progress) Information on Haney & Greene (2004) Authors: Craig Haney, Susan Greene Research interest: The study evaluates aspects of newspaper reporting about death penalty cases and capital defendants. Object of analysis: “representative sample of local, mainstream (i.e., non-“tabloid”) newspaper coverage” (134) Codebook: not available Information on Oehmer (work in progress) Research interest: The research interest of the study focuses on three sets of questions concerning 1) the selection and representativeness of court reporting, 2) the information function of court reporting and 3) the presentation of court reporting. Object of analysis: court coverage in Swiss newspapers (Tagesanzeiger, NZZ, Neue Luzerner Zeitung, Südostschweiz, Blick, Gratiszeitung, 20Minuten) Time frame of analysis: January 2007 – December 2017 Codebook: available (see attachment) Info about variables Author(s) Level of analysis Operationalization/coding instructions Values Intercoder reliability Haney & Greene (2004) article Sources “We coded source attributions for information contained in the articles. Specifically, we examined whether the prosecution, defense, judges, or law enforcement (e.g., police), or the suspect/defendant or laypersons purporting to be knowledgeable about him or his crime(s) were specifically quoted or cited. For example: After allegedly stealing Schockley’s 1990 Buick station wagon and items from Schockley’s Lodi home, Hensley went to the Oasis bar on the outskirts of Stockton and picked up a 32-year-old prostitute, police said. (“Killing Suspect Caught,” 1992)“ (136) - Police/law enforcement - Prosecutors - Judges - Defense attorneys - Defendants - Lay witnesses - Prosecution Defense Cronbach’s alpha of .73 across categories (5 Coder), not mentioned for individual category Oehmer (work in progress) Actors in most covered court case in article Actors of the trial Only actors of the (dominant) trial described in the article are coded - i.e. actors involved in other processes are not considered here. Only those actors are coded who are described as actively acting. Simple statements such as "the verdict of the court" or "in the motion of the lawyers can be read that" does not qualify as actors. Decisive for the assignment to an actor is the role in the respective process: If, for example, a police officer is accused of abuse of authority, he is coded as the accused, not as an actor of the police. - Opfer - Angehörige der Opfer - Angeklagte(r) - Angehörige des/r Angeklagten - Akteure der Staatsanwaltschaft - Anwälte/ Verteidiger - Richter/ Spruchkörper - Gericht allgemein - Akteure der Polizei - Zeugen - Gutachter - Sonstiges Holsti .84; Krippendorff’s Alpha: .83 (2 Coder) References Haney, C. & Greene, S. (2004). Capital constructions: Newspaper reporting in death penalty cases. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 4(1), 129–150. Oehmer, Franziska. Die dritte Gewalt in den Medien. Eine repräsentative quantitative Inhaltsanalyse der Gerichtsberichterstattung Schweizer Medien (work in progress). [Justice in the media. A representative quantitative content analysis of court reporting in the Swiss media].

It is criminal: The state of magistrates’ court reporting in England and Wales

There is a widespread perception that there has been a collapse in court reporting in England and Wales as local legacy media struggles to survive in times of falling revenues and shifting audiences. However, there is little empirical evidence with which to examine the issue. This research aims to fill this knowledge gap by carrying out the first week-long systematic coding of the activity of one England and Wales magistrates’ court coupled with a concurrent survey of local media coverage of the courts. While 240 cases were observed during the week-long study, only three stories appeared in the local press and only one case was attended by a journalist. Moreover, the research team identified a significant number of ‘newsworthy’ cases among the sample – all of which were missing from media coverage. Although small in scale, this research does indicate that, in an average week, the vast majority of cases heard at this level of the criminal justice system is largely invisible to the public, with virtually no independent oversight from journalism. This is at odds with the key principle of open justice. The article ends with some suggestions for regenerating the area by shifting from court reporting to a Justice Reporting model, with the ultimate aim of effectively filling the void in external scrutiny of day-to-day criminal justice.