TV Cameras Not Allowed During Trump Hush Money Trial. Here’s Why.
NEW YORK (NEWSnet/AP) — Americans will follow the news of former President Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York with limited access to courtroom photography or video.
While reporters and sketch artists are allowed in the Manhattan courtroom, they will relate what is being said and what happened as the court recesses.
That's because New York state law regarding media coverage of court proceedings is one of the most restrictive in the country.
In general: Live photography, live video and live audio are not allowed.
[Earlier Report: No Jurors Selected on First Day of Trump's Hush Money Trial]
Why Are Cameras Limited in Courtroom?
Regulations limiting media coverage in courtrooms date back nearly a century, a reaction to the spectacle of bright flashbulbs and camera operators standing on witness tables during the 1935 trial of the man accused of kidnapping and killing Charles Lindbergh's baby son, according to a 2022 report by the New York-based Fund for Modern Courts.
Rules intended to enforce decorum spread nationally, updated decades later to account for the invention of television, the report said.
An interest in open government eroded those laws and video cameras began to be permitted in courts across the country, typically at the discretion of judges presiding in the cases.
New York allowed cameras on an experimental basis between 1987 and 1997, but that plan was was shut down. Currently: New York and Louisiana are the only states remaining that completely restrict video coverage, the Fund for Modern Courts said.
“We're the media capital of the world, we like to think, and the fact that cameras aren't permitted in one of our three branches of government is unacceptable,” said New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who has sponsored a bill to try to change that.
Arrangements for photos of Trump sitting in the courtroom for the hush money case – such as the ones that NEWSnet is using with its trial coverage – are possible through a few courtesy minutes granted by the judge.
Before Monday’s proceedings started, Judge Juan M. Merchan allowed visual journalists to take photos of Trump.
Once court was called into session, those photographers had to leave the room.
In some cases, the drawings of courtroom sketch artists will provide a glimpse of what is taking place during pretrial motions, jury selection and other trial activity.
Options In and Near Courtroom
News organizations have some options for pool and on-site coverage, to include.
- A limited availability for video coverage is through monitors in an overflow room adjacent to the main courtroom.
- A limited number of cameras and reporters are stationed in the hallway outside the courtroom to speak to anyone involved in the trial who wishes to address the public.
- Other journalists are taking spots outside the courthouse to relay reports on camera, but some say noise from loudspeakers and blaring horns have made recording in that area difficult.
Looking Ahead to Other Cases
Here's what to expect for video, audio and images when other Trump-related cases go to hearings and trials:
- Georgia, where Trump faces charges of election meddling, gives judges discretion over whether to allow television cameras. Superior Court of Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee has said he will make all hearings and trials in that case available for broadcast.
- Federal courts do not allow cameras in criminal cases. Trump is facing separate federal cases of election interference and mishandling classified documents.
- The U.S. Supreme Court normally permits audio of oral arguments to be broadcast outside of the courtroom, although there are no video cameras in that courtroom.
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