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Judges, journalists come together for series of workshops
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Posted on Sep 11 2005
Court judges and journalists in the CNMI will come together by the end of this month in a series of workshops about covering court stories.
National Center for Courts and Media is organizing the event that will take place on Sept. 22 and 23 at the Guma Hustisia and Aqua Resort Club, respectively.
NCCM director Gary Hengstler said the workshops intend to increase understanding and effectiveness both for courts and the media.
Hengstler said the goals of the workshops are two-fold—to inform judges on “First Amendment and media” issues that sometimes occur in trials and other newsworthy court activity, and to help journalists improve their performance in covering the courts.
“It is hoped that with judges and journalists talking candidly with and learning more about each other, the need will be decreased for such things as contempt-of-court findings and media entity lawsuits filed to garner trial information.
He said the workshops would focus on topics regarding access and coverage issues created by First and Sixth Amendment conflicts in previous trials. The organizer said the workshops are tailored to local issues in the Commonwealth as much as possible.
The workshop on Sept. 22 will discuss the basics in covering criminal trials and the basics in covering civil trials. These sessions are designed for journalists to be conducted by Justice Alexandro C. Castro and Judge David A. Wiseman. There will also be a demonstration and forum for public discussion on how the courts and media deal with a criminal case and determining the public trust and confidence in them. The discussions will be held at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.
The second day of the workshop will tackle the overview of the workshop and current national court and media issues. Hengstler said the discussion will focus more on the strategies on how greater harmony between the court and the media can be achieved.
