NCJ Number
70183
Date Published
1980
Length
60 pages
Annotation
This publication presents the texts of the eight formal presentations at a 1980 conference on news media access to criminal justice information.
Abstract
Conference participants included print and broadcast media representatives, police officials, information management officials, congressional staff members, judges, and civil rights activists. The conference focused on the conflicts between the freedom of the press and the right to privacy. In the keynote address, former television news correspondent Ford Rowan noted that informal contacts between reporters and police officials provide most of the information that reporters use. Automation has aggravated the issue of free press versus the right of privacy. To protect the right to a free press, journalists must become more responsible, establish standards of conduct, and promote ethical journalistic behavior. Other presentations focused on the state of the law and the effect of the Houston Chronicle case on the release of police information in Texas. Additional discussions included comments by the Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General on media access to court records and the dissemination policy of New York's central information repository. Further presentations included a newspaper editor's call for avoidance of justice in secret, a law professor's argument that freedom of the press and privacy are complementary values, and a discussion of legislative issues. The conference agenda and a list of speakers are included.