Why editors need to make court coverage a top priority

Behind Local News
Nov 15, 2018 · 2 min read
Joy Yates

A regional editor has urged her colleagues to make court coverage a top priority, saying it ‘ticks every box’ for modern newsrooms seeking to reach large audiences.

Joy Yates, editorial director for Johnston Press in the North East, said she had prioritised court coverage over other forms of local journalism as budgets became more challenged, and would continue to do so.

Joy, whose titles include the Sunderland Echo, Shields Gazette and Hartlepool Mail, said: “I love court content. It’s vital for justice and to instil public confidence. For me it ticks absolutely every box.

“Us being there is vital for open justice and confidence in the system. It’s not cheap, but it’s essential.

“It sells newspapers, it drives page views and it’s something we should be doing for our readers. It should be a USP.

“It’s something I always keep at the forefront of everything I do. It’s not cheap to cover courts. We have a model in the North East where we use a local news agency to cover crown court.

“They know the court clerks and the legal teams and it makes a difference. We back that up and I also staff magistrates.

“That might be to the detriment of another element of content, but I will continue to do so as I don’t think we can afford not to.”

The panel at the Society of Editors Conference was convened to look at a crisis in courts coverage, the latest campaign by the SoE.

One suggestion put forward has been for a scheme similar to the Local Democracy Reporters project to ensure all courts are covered.

But Joy, who says she is positive about the LDR scheme, said: “I think it’s a different situation to council reporting, where there was a deficit, and I think we’d be reluctant to give up on the exclusives we get from investing in court.”

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