Ohio-based newspapers and TV stations and two court-related broadcasters asked an Ohio judge to allow media to audio record witnesses who will testify in the Rhoden mass-murder trial, according to a court document.
Common Pleas Court Judge Randy Deering asked lawyers to file their arguments either in favor or against the request for media access in the George Wagner IV trial by Thursday. He scheduled a hearing on the issue for 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Wagner is on trial in the 2016 fatal shootings of eight members of the Rhoden family that lived in southern Ohio. A jury was seated last week in the case and opening statements were to begin Monday, but the illness of the key prosecutor in the case delayed that until Sept. 12.
In a previous order related to media coverage of Ohio's most costly and most complex criminal case, Deering said that any witness who is testifying can opt out of being photographed or recorded. His order would apply to Wagner's mother, Angela, and his younger brother, Jake, both of whom are expected to provided key testimony in the case.
In his argument for the media, Cincinnati-based lawyer Jack Greiner said Ohio's Rules of Superintendence allow a judge to permit broadcast and recording of courtroom proceedings. And while witnesses can opt out of being photographed or recorded, there is no obligation for a judge to grant that request, Greiner argued.
"This Court has repeatedly stressed the need for this trial to be transparent, recognizing the public's right to observe this unprecedented murder trial,'' Greiner said in the motion.
He further argued that the audio recording is akin to a court transcript, which is public information.
Read the full motion:
In addition, Greiner asked Deering to allow a second robotic camera to be placed in the courtroom to record lawyers questioning witnesses.
Questions for students:
Rewrite the headline for SEO, as we discussed in class.
My lede is a bit wordy, how might you either a) edit it OR b) rewrite it for clarity?
After reading the motion, is there any other information — or a quote — you might include in your story?
Answer TWO of the THREE below for full points.
Rewrite the headline for SEO, as we discussed in class.
Rhoden murder trial: Media request recordings of witnesses
My lede is a bit wordy, how might you either a) edit it OR b) rewrite it for clarity?
Ohio-based media and two court-related broadcasters asked the judge to allow the audio recording of witnesses who will testify in the Rhoden mass-murder trial, according to a court document.
For the SEO headline, I would rewrite it as " Media outlets requesting recording be allowed in Rohden trial"
I would remove the first and in the beginning and replace it with a comma. It was very repetitive to read. if the headline was kept as it was I would remove the extra clarification of "Ohio-based" because again it is repetitive to the headline. Maybe instead of "an Ohio judge" replace it with "the judge."
I would remove who all is asking- there is a lot of “and, and, and” I would maybe put “Ohio-based media...” and maybe omit the Ohio part of judge as well- since we cleared it was Ohio in the “Ohio-based”.
I honestly would pull the first paragraph/sentence in there somehow, I feel that it is important that they have repeatedly stressed the need for this trial to be transparent, and to recognize the public’s right to observe the trial.
For SEO headline I would rewrite as " Ohio media outlets request audio recording in Rhoden family massacre trial" the key words here are Ohio, and Rhoden family massacre.I think this headline puts key words at the front and would be at the top of a search.
after reading this story I would maybe add the results of the request for media in the courtroom, the answer doesn't seem clear and leaves me wondering if the request was denied or accepted.
1. For search engine optimization, I would rewrite the headline as "Pike County mass-murder trial: media outlets fight for recordings of witnesses." When I looked online some of the first key words that popped up were "Pike County" so I thought starting with that would be a good start because it already seems like Pike County is one of the top searches. I then think ending it with "media outlets fight for recordings of witnesses" is good because it gives just enough insight without telling the audience everything. I think that the language is good because I think the verb really sticks out.
2. I would maybe edit the lede to "Ohio-based media outlets and court-related broadcasters ask Ohio judge…