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Controversy over court accreditation of journalists
by Scott Gilbreath ~ November 23rd, 2008
In 2005 and 2006, Nova Scotia’s judiciary set out guidelines for accreditation of media seeking access to many provincial courts. At a recent conference on “A Free Press and an Independent Judiciary” held in Halifax, journalists, lawyers, and journalism professors roundly denounced the concept and process of media accreditation.
Dean Jobb, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of King’s College:
“If there is going to be a process that gives a state agency control deciding who is a journalist and who isn’t, I can’t accept that” […]
David Coles, Q.C., Media lawyer, law firm Boyne Clarke:
“I have real difficulty with the court being involved in accrediting the very reporters who are reporting on what the judges did,” said Coles.
He’d prefer there were no accreditation at all. “If somebody wants to go to the courthouse, report on what’s going on, in whatever venue, if simply to take it home and talk about it with the kids over the dining room table or whether you want to publish it in the national newspaper, it’s reporting. And it seems to me the more reporting by more sources, the more access, the more in depth it can be, the better for the democracy,” said Coles.
But is that “responsible journalism”?
Kevin Cox, managing editor, allnovascotia.com:
Cox says his website is a “news-oriented business website” that can easily meet the criteria [for online journalists]. But he says he shouldn’t have to prove it.
“I don’t think it’s any of their business what kind of website we run. Why do the courts care?” says Cox.
John Piccolo, director of communications for the Nova Scotia judiciary and the media cop who wrote the 51-page accreditation guidelines, stood by his brainchild.
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November 24th, 2008 at 02:58 PM
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