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Reporter tweets live from murder trial courtroom

A regional daily is breaking new ground by using Twitter to report directly from a courtroom while covering an ongoing murder trial.

The Worcester News is providing live online coverage of proceedings in the trial of Christopher Grady, 42, who is accused of murdering his daughter Gabby and attempting to murder his son Ryan, after the judge granted permission for reporters to tweet from the court.

Crime reporter James Savage is providing regular Twitter updates on the major case at Birmingham Crown Court which are fed onto the paper’s website.

Lord Chief Justice Judge cleared the way in December for Twitter to be used for court reporting, providing that presiding judges gave permission and it would not interfere with justice.

Above, a screengrab showing some of James' tweets from the courtroom.

Digital editor Murray Kelso said: “This is a ground-breaking move for us because before now our reporters have always had time to consider how they will cover a case before it goes to press or online. Now it is immediate and as a result it has more of a raw edge to it.

 

“Readers have also had to wait before they hear anything about such matters but now they can get closer to the courtroom for what is a tragic tale for everyone concerned.

“Some of James’ tweets, although short and to-the-point, have been terrible to read and they really give a flavour of the torment the childrens’ family must be going through as they sit there listening to the evidence being given.”

Grady denies murdering five-year-old Gabby and attempting to murder Ryan, who was six-year-old at the time, after the car he was driving plunged into the river Avon at Evesham in February last year.

Live coverage from the courtroom has so far highlighted part of the prosecution case and has included quotes from Kim Smith, Gabby and Ryan’s mother, who broke down in tears in the witness box.

The Worcester News is also keeping members of a Facebook tribute page to Gabby informed about proceedings so they feel less detached from the trial.

Murray added: “In previous cases, unless we had the occasional phone call from the reporter, we were always in the dark abut how well things were progressing but now we know more-or-less straight away what’s going on.”

14 comments

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  • March 7, 2011 at 11:49 am
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    n yt nthr nal in cfn of dcnt rprtng n grmr – r we spzd to mk sens of dis

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  • March 7, 2011 at 11:50 am
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    Seems a silly use of Twitter to me, turning a serious murder trial into just another form of digital entertainment, complete with a grinning mugshot of the reporter alongside each tweet.

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  • March 7, 2011 at 12:49 pm
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    Agree with Subbo. Can’t see there being much demand for 160 character updates. Most would rather wait for the full story the following day. How many people actually follow this chap? Also, how can he be taking down accurate shorthand notes at the same time as tweeting? Something’s got to give.

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  • March 7, 2011 at 12:57 pm
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    As an experienced court reporter of many years, I think this is taking social media too far. How are you meant to concentrate on proceedings and get a decent shorthand note if you are playing with your mobile phone every two minutes? There’s a danger you might miss something. Maybe it would be useful for quickly communicating jury verdicts, but that’s all. There’s also the question of balance in what’s being tweeted.

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  • March 7, 2011 at 1:06 pm
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    It’s just wrong. I don’t blame the reporter or even the news editor. It’ll just be some pig-ignorant executive who thinks it’s what newspapers should be doing. Undoubtedly an lip-bitingly embarrassing effort to try to impress the CEO in some pathetic management report or other.

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  • March 7, 2011 at 1:20 pm
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    Out of all the useful things the judiciary could agree to let us do, they choose this? Not a great idea in my view.

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  • March 7, 2011 at 1:52 pm
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    So did the paper have two reporters covering this trial? As others have stated how could the reporter stand by his shorthand if a complaint was made. All the complainant would have to do was show his twitter feed and argue he couldn’t have been fully concentrating. I agree with tweeting from court but surely now the next logical step is recording proceedings. If I am sat there with my phone in hand what is to stop me switching its record function on?

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  • March 7, 2011 at 3:43 pm
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    The information has been posted from my shorthand notes during short breaks in the proceedings. Everything on my twitter feed is in my notepad. I understand the concerns about reporting in this way but a number of family members and friends who have been unable to attend the trial have thanked me for the updates. The “jury” is obviously still out on this issue.

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  • March 7, 2011 at 3:51 pm
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    What a waste of time and effort just to try and be “fashionable”. There is probably little more than a handful of people in their circulation area actually following the updates.

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  • March 7, 2011 at 4:35 pm
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    I was the chief witness in a Crown court trial earlier this year. There were mistakes in the newspaper report. The retrial starts this week and I shall be readfing the reports closely with a view to compensation. As for switching mobile phone to record, reminds me I did that at my wedding. As God was my witness, I swear I misheard the bishop.

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  • March 7, 2011 at 5:07 pm
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    God forbid that newspapers should ever try and innovate.I think you should all re-read your comments and ask whether you should be involved in news reporting at all (with the obvious exception of @jamessavageWN).

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  • March 7, 2011 at 5:09 pm
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    And the other obvious exception of Mumpsimus Pedant, who sounds like s/he has nothing to do with news anyway.

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  • March 8, 2011 at 11:31 am
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    The amount of opposition to this story is incredible and totally misguided. When was the last time you all looked at your ABCs? If you ever have you’ll have noticed they’re dropping like stones while website figures are rising sharply. Readers just don’t want their news from print any more. ABCs will continue to fall and dinosaurs, like those posting above, will find themselves out of jobs unless they start accepting that the web is more important now than it ever has been. You all need to get your heads out of the sand and accept that digital news is going to keep on growing. Tweeting from court will get more popular as time goes on so you had better start getting used to it now or start retraining for something else entirely.

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  • March 10, 2011 at 3:08 pm
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    Can’t see there being much demand for 160 character updates. Most would rather wait for the full story the following day. How many people actually follow this chap? Ladies and gentleman of the jury, I give you exhibit A of why so many of the old school are out of touch. Like it or lump it you are now serving a generation who get their news as it happens and on the go. This is a generation that does not want to wait for news when it’s happening now. If newspapers don’t do it then someone else will, then you’ll all be crying into your real ale about the fact that no-one’s reading your copy online or in print. Surely promoting the ebb and flow of a trial on the go is a promotional tool to push people towards the eventual report? That’s the reason so many papers are doomed – they think different media needs to exist in isolation rather than as a combined package to tell the overall story in the best possible fashion. And let’s try checking the facts. The use of hashtags and open profiling means you don’t need to “follow this chap” to see his updates.

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