news Freelance wins access to court listings
A FREELANCE journalist has successfully challenged a court that refused to provide him with its listings because he was not working for an IPSO-regulated publication, writes Charlie Moloney. Andy Crooke had applied to Hereford and Worcestershire
Magistrates Courts for their list of upcoming cases and the results of cases that had been dealt with in June. Crooke is the vice-chair of the NUJ’s Birmingham and
Coventry branch and the founder of GoNewsUK, a news service that connects users with a local journalist to report on publicly funded agencies. He told The Journalist that he very quickly got a response knocking him back, saying he could not have the lists because he was “not working for one of the large organisations”. The court had then told Crooke he needed to either sign up
to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) as an individual or be part of an organisation that was signed up to IPSO. A member of the court staff told him the requirement was set out in guidance from His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Services (HMCTS). Crooke asked to raise a formal complaint to HMCTS over the
matter and informed court staff the refusal was on the agenda to be discussed at his next NUJ branch meeting. Shortly afterwards, the court manager contacted Crooke to
say the courts had been “badly advised”, and he was provided him with the lists. The manager said other courts in the region would be made aware of the correct approval/verification process for journalists to receive court registers, which requires: presentation of a UK press card; a letter/email from the editor of a publication covered by IPSO; or accreditation by a press officer in the Ministry of Justice. Crooke, who reports primarily on local authorities, police and
emergency services, has since withdrawn his complaint. He said of the result: “It is a victory for us. We are supposed to be the people who report on what is going on in our courts and
tribunals. If we cannot get access to that information, the public certainly will not know about it and justice will not be open.” Crooke – a former registered nurse and later a police
officer – said the press lists help journalists to plan which cases to attend and said he thought they had been refused to him because staff were not accustomed to dealing with reporters, amid a nationwide decline in court coverage generally. He advised other NUJ members: “Don’t give up. Feed back to
your regional officer in the NUJ if you have got a problem. You have a right to do this, the courts have an obligation to supply you with the information and you are not just doing something because it is your job – you are doing a public service.”
NEIL MCALLISTER / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO “ Steve Bell
If we cannot get access to that information, the public certainly will not know about it
Andy Crooke GoNewsUK
06 | theJournalist
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