INDIANAPOLIS—The Society of Professional Journalists has joined a growing chorus of media companies asking the D.C. federal court holding the trial in which former president Donald Trump is charged with attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, to allow cameras during the trial.
The SPJ, along with 19 other media organizations has filed an application to the federal court for auidiovisual access to the trial proceedings and also sent a letter to the Judicial Conference this week seeking amendment to the rules prohibiting cameras in the courtroom.
“This is a historical story that impacts the very fiber of our Democracy,” said SPJ National President Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins. “The public has a right to know how this case unfolds in real time. The only way to ensure this is to allow cameras in the courtroom during the trial.”
Although 49 states and the District of Columbia currently either permit journalists to capture proceedings on their own cameras, authorize courts to provide video or audio webcasts of proceedings, or both, in state courts, cameras have traditionally been barred from federal judicial proceedings.
In its request, the SPJ cites massive public interest in the election interference issue, as well as the increased amount of misinformation on social media, as factors that should prompt the court to allow the public to view the trial.
“This case is of interest to all American voters still struggling to make sense of the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath, and who have an opportunity to vote for or against Trump should he become his party’s nominee in the 2024 presidential elections,” said the letter to Judicial Conference Secretary Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf.
