Twitter, Journalism and the Law

Abstract

With the increase in the use of Twitter by journalists, some journalists have started to use Twitter to cover court cases live from the courtroom. This increase in a technological presence in the courtroom could and has lead to trial complications. How then should Twitter be used in a courtroom to cover cases? By conducting nine in-depth semi-structured interviews the way and reason Twitter should be used in the courtroom was discussed and analyzed. This method was chosen to allow for a further discussion of the implications of Twitter and how it could be best used. Through this research it was determined that: Twitter courtroom coverage started as an experiment; the standard for what gets tweeted varies, Twitter may not be used in every situation; and Twitter can have Sixth Amendment implications. A guide was then complied for the best way to use Twitter in the courtroom.