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I get the feeling many people wonder
why and how the Bennington Banner covers local court and police
stories. Many feel we do it because it “sells papers.” Well, I
can't argue that based on website hits and Facebook likes and
comments, lurid crime stories get a lot of attention from the public.
I can tell you, though, my paycheck doesn't change based on how much
a story is read.
Others seem to view the Banner as a
public shaming tool. This gets coupled with the view that by writing
about a court matter I've somehow given it my blessing. Hopefully
this Q and A list will address some of these items.
Why does the Banner cover courts?
The police and courts have a lot of
power, and any group with a lot of power needs to be watched by the
public. The justice system has the power to take away your freedom
and make decisions that drastically impact the lives of those around
you. It's human nature that when people with power are not being
watched, they tend to abuse that power, however fair-minded they
might be.
Why doesn't the Bennington Banner
wait until cases are resolved before reporting on them?
The court can take away your freedom
before you're convicted.
After you enter a not guilty plea a
judge can decide to release you on conditions or lock you up while
the case is pending. There are rules and criteria they have to
follow, but the judge still has a lot of power power, and it gets
used. A judge can order you to obey a curfew, not go to a certain
place, and not speak to certain people, even your own family members.
They can require a lot of other things, too, but like I said in a
previous post, conditions of release are worth their own entry.
Where does the Bennington Banner get
its information?
Most of the time the information we
print comes from police affidavits. An affidavit is a narrative
basically saying why the cop thinks you did whatever crime you're
being cited for. The cops give the affidavit to prosecutors who
decide which crimes are actually being described before submitting
it, along with charges, to a judge. The judge then reads the
affidavit and makes sure what's being said fits what's being charged.
Once a judge finds “probable cause,”
on the charges, you can be arraigned and your freedom can be
restricted.
The affidavit becomes accessible to the
public after the judge finds probable cause. Usually I see it after
the arraignment hearing his held. The court clerks show me the file
and if I want I can get a copy of it for 25 cents per page. Anyone
can do this, it's not a special privilege of the media.
Why is the Bennington Banner
accusing people of crimes?
It doesn't. I report that other people
are accusing people of committing crimes and that based on those
accusations the state has restricted a person's freedom.
When I write “According to the
affidavit, the woman told police her boyfriend hit her in the head
with a closed fist,” that means a woman told police her boyfriend
hit her in the head with a closed fist, and that the police wrote
that down in an affidavit that was then used to justify restricting
the boyfriend's freedom.
Of course not all of the information in
an affidavit is 100 percent accurate and when I learn of an error I
seek to correct it, or we follow the case to its resolution. The
Banner's phone number is public and I put my email at the end of
every article and I welcome defendants input on a case's resolution.
Truth be told, however, most people's attorneys do not like it one
little bit when their clients talks to the press. Still, I've never
refused an attorney who felt inclined to speak to me.
I'm fully aware that when people read
about accusations they convict the person in their minds. I wish they
did not, I wish they kept an open mind, but that they don't is a poor
reason to not report on something.
Why did the Bennington Banner report
on this case and not that one?
There is no set policy on what kinds of
court cases we cover and which ones we don't, however there are some
general practices we follow. When I look at the court calendar, I
look for felony charges because they are the more serious sort of
charge a person can face. Some misdemeanor charges also catch my eye,
namely animal cruelty and child abuse, but let's say someone
vandalized the Bennington Monument or one of the street
moose/catamounts and didn't do enough damage to be charged with a
felony, I would still report on that.
To sum up, the reason we report on the
courts is to ensure some level of accountability for an institution
that has a great deal of power and uses it to affect the lives of
common people on a daily basis. People need to know if the justice
system is working or not.
I'm sure there's more questions and I'd
be happy to answer them. Leave a comment or email me at
kwhitcomb@benningtonbanner.com
or send them via Twitter @Kwhitcombjr
