SPJ NEWS

SPJ REQUESTS CAMERAS IN COURTROOM: SPJ requests that cameras are allowed in the courtroom for the trial in United States v. Donald J. Trump. SPJ joins 19 other media organizations in an application to the federal court for audiovisual access to the trial proceedings. The group also sent a letter to the Judicial Conference Thursday seeking amendment to the rules prohibiting cameras in the courtroom. An indictment accuses former President Trump of conspiring to obstruct the certification of the 2020 presidential electoral vote in Congress on January 6, 2021. The indictment, pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the first against a U.S. president concerning actions taken while in office. “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.”

The Society of Professional Journalists, formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn.