Advice for court reporters
Components
Court reporting has strict legal guidelines that must be followed. However, you can use your professional discretion when reporting on child sexual abuse to minimise harm.
- Reporting on court cases that involve child sexual abuse follows the same laws as other cases. However, care needs to be taken with the narrative and framing of a court report.
- Discuss any doubts with your editor or producer and refer to your outlet’s legal team if possible.
Language
- Journalists and editors do have some discretion with the language they use. Just because it’s been reported in court doesn’t necessarily mean it’s appropriate to report.
- There is a tension between the level of detail to include and the effect on the victim and survivor. Is there editorial and ethical justification for including graphic detail? As a general principle, include only as much as is necessary to show the gravity of the offence and not minimise the significance of the crime.
- Journalists have a legal responsibility to give a fair account of what happens in a courtroom but also understand that a defence lawyer’s job is to protect their client. They will develop a narrative to do that (“they led me on”, “it was alcohol and drugs”). Use specific phrases to show that you are reporting on evidence that has been presented to the court. Examples could include:
- ‘Claims/claimed’ can carry a connotation of doubt: “the victim claimed”, “the offender claimed”. A better phrase to accurately report on any defence that is mounted is “Defence said”.
- ‘The court heard/the jury heard’: the best term to use here is, again, “Defence said” to accurately report on what is said in court.
Other key considerations
- Are there any suppression orders on the case before the court?
- Be aware of legal obligations in relation to the identification of children.
- Even if it is legally permissible, give careful consideration as to whether it is in the best interests of the child for them to be named.
For detailed information on court reporting, please visit County Court Victoria.
"You still have a job to do as a journalist to think about the implications of the level of detail you're going to provide ... but you don't want to minimise the seriousness and the impact of the offense that's occurred – sometimes language and vagueness can serve to undermine the real significance of something. That's the tension."
(Media)