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3 - Television News and the Supreme Court: Opportunities and Constraints

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2009

Elliot E. Slotnick
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
Jennifer A. Segal
Affiliation:
University of Kentucky
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Summary

“Over and over again … I … was obliged to change what the Court had said to meet the requirements of a producer even though I didn't believe that that's what the Court had said. It basically got down to a contest every night about a quarter of six between what I knew the Court had said and what I knew the producer would accept. And then it got down to a question as to whether we were going to do the story at all.”

Carl Stern, former NBC News Supreme Court reporter

We have underscored in chapter 2 that the Court presents a unique setting for reporters covering the institution and, indeed, that some facets of the beat have important and similar implications for both print and broadcast journalism outlets. It remains important to recognize, however, that all journalistic venues are not created equal and, clearly, are not the same. In this chapter we shall examine the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the television medium for covering the Court. What are the journalistic constraints imposed by the Court itself as well as those associated with the imperatives of nightly newscasts? What changes have occurred in network newscast coverage of the Court in past years and what does the future hold for the relationship between the Supreme Court and nightly newscasts? We shall pay particular attention in this chapter to the issues and concerns raised for television reporters who must cover the Court in “the age of infotainment.”

Type
Chapter
Information
Television News and the Supreme Court
All the News that's Fit to Air?
, pp. 46 - 88
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1998

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