Judges and Journalists Workshop Oct. 25
Journalists and members of the judiciary will come together at Pearl River Resort near Phildelphia Oct. 25 for a daylong session intended to help journalists improve court reporting while enlightening judges to the needs of the media and how reporters go about their jobs.
The program will start with continental breakfast at 8 a.m. in Meeting Rooms 4 and 5 at the Silver Star Conference Center. The morning session will include role reversals in a mock trial. You be the judges, and jurists will take notes and write news stories. Afterwards, participants will study the stories written and talk about each other¹s roles.
The luncheon speaker will be Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon.
The afternoon session will start with a video clip from a TV interview of a judge, with discussion to follow.
The media program will conclude with a panel discussion of free press vs. fair trial issues. Panelists include Circuit Judges Vernon Cotten and Ann H. Lamar, Rankin County Court Judge Kent McDaniel, Clarion-Ledger Court Reporter Jimmie Gates, Greenwood Commonwealth Managing Editor Leesha Faulkner and WLBT TV News Director Dennis Smith.
Program facilitators are former Associated Press Denver Bureau Chief Joe McGowan, veteran journalist and court public information officer Jerrianne Hayslett, and Mary Burdick, Assistant Program Manager of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Courts and Media at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada.
he workshop is free. There is no registration fee. The program is funded by a grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to the National Center for Courts and Media at the National Judicial College.
For more information or to obtain an agenda and registration form, e-mail bkraft@mssc.state.ms.us or call Beverly Kraft at 601-354-7452.