Reporting with Grace
By David Poulson
You’ve got to hand it to the University of Montana’s schools of journalism and of law. They’ve joined in a project that pushes the bounds of traditional courtroom coverage and of new media.
The subject is the hottest environmental trial going. Five W.R. Grace officials face charges that they hid studies indicating the hazards faced by workers mining vermiculite in Libby, Mont. The company denies any wrongdoing.
It’s a typical messy environmental court action. After four years of legal maneuvering the case has finally come to trial. It will be interesting to see how the law students and the journalism students explain the legal issues to the public. Is it a clash of cultures or a collaboration from which we’ll all benefit?
But frankly, I’m much more interested in the new media elements they’re bringing to the coverage, particularly the use of Twitter as a means to cover courtroom action in real time. I’ll write more about that later; I want to see how that coverage progresses. But already they’ve helped set the #GraceCase Twtter hash tag, a role that I’ve argued is something where news organizations can take the lead.
And of course the students aren’t alone.
The Missoulian has a tremendous trove of backgrounders, links to news stories, videos, timelines and other elements. If you’re a nut for environmental litigation, here’s a place for not only ongoing coverage but instant background. It’s almost as if they’ve created the resources from which some novelist will someday write a bestseller.
And the journalists are not alone.
Grace itself has built an online presence to state its case. It even has its own timeline. For all I know, the plaintiffs have something similar. If you’re aware of it, send me a link. And if they don’t, they should.
But that is precisely why journalists need to so aggressively insert themselves into stories like these. There’s a lot of value in that “wisdom of the crowd” thing. But a blog battle here won’t serve the community.
A thorough, engaging and journalistically valid report will. Let’s hope we see one.
February 24th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Tremendous project. Any hope they will be able to tweet/blog directly from the courtroom?
February 24th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Yep. They’re doing it daily at twitter.com/UMGraceCase or go to Twitter and search on #GraceCase
February 24th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
D. Thanks for the thoughtful coverage of our collaborative effort Our goal is to provide a window into the courtroom for all parties interested in this trial, especially the effected communities across the country and the those interested in the legal implications and nuances of this complex case.
Bonnie, please check the website. Tweets are flowing onto the page, with blog post wraps as needed, and special topic posts that link to feature stories or legal explainers. You can also follow the tweets at #gracecase or by following UMGraceCase.
We are also linking to other coverage, under Background stories, Additional coverage and will add covertheplanet to the list.
Thanks for tuning in. We’ll be in court until the trial concludes. — Nadia White, UM School of Journalism
March 1st, 2009 at 2:55 pm
No better authority than the walking dead of Libby who are still alive to tell the rest of the story.Look up Mike Crill/Libby Mike Crill. Excuss my why of deadling with this but I do save alot of lives from what is killing me. Let me know what you want to know.I may be able to help.And I would love to write a book…someday.Take care.
March 1st, 2009 at 2:57 pm
sorry bout that spell check…