Are legal blogs inferior to newspapers?
This is slightly off-topic for this blog, but a news story I noticed prompted the question above. George Erb of the Puget Sound Business Journal has a report on Friday’s annual meeting of the Bench-Bar-Press Committee of Washington. The topic of a panel discussion: “Where have all the reporters gone?”
The answers are disturbing. I know that here in Olympia the political/government press corps has dwindled from 30+ reporters to just seven people in a few short years. Veteran reporters have “chosen” early retirement, government positions, or private-sector employment. David Ammons (Associated Press), David Postman (Seattle Times), and Joe Turner (The News Tribune)—just to name three—had decades of experience between them, and their insight and institutional memory is now gone. There are very good reporters left behind, but they’re the first to admit they’re stretched too thin.
The discussion on Friday covered these issues, with U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik and Washington Chief Justice Gerry Alexander voicing concerns about the state of journalism .
But one comment caught my attention:
Peter Shaplen, a producer, consultant and educator, said the courts are seeing more bloggers. Unfortunately, blogs are less likely to provide the in-depth reporting that lays out the facts and arguments behind court opinions and verdicts, he said.
I’m not especially interested in the “blogs vs. newspapers” debate. But when it comes to legal reporting, Mr. Shaplen is wrong. I’m equally concerned about the erosion of the press, but blogs can and do provide in-depth reporting on legal issues and cases.
Consider this blog, for example. By the time the Washington State Supreme Court issues a ruling, we’ve written about that case numerous times: we announce the case when the petition for review is accepted, we provide previews and recaps of oral argument, we link to party briefs, we discuss the case’s procedural history, and we preview the case the night before the ruling is issued. We then unpack the Court’s opinions—covering both the story and the significant legal issues for the benefit of legal practitioners and laypersons alike. We’re also able to observe trends, comment on the nuances of developing case law, and translate particularly complex legal issues. The political reporters in town do a fine job. I’m not saying they don’t. But the lawyers writing for our blog offer an expertise and depth of analysis that a general assignment reporter can’t match.
The ease of online publishing allows subject-matter experts to offer their views to the public without the barriers they would face if trying to get quoted in the New York Times or on 60 Minutes. Take any area of law, and there’s probably a legal professional blogging on that topic. Attorney Bill Marler is a leading expert on food poisoning outbreaks and litigation and writes about the topic on his blog. Want to know about equestrian law? You’d better be reading Alison Rowe’s Equine Law Blog.
Legal professionals are filling the void created by the death of print journalism, and the public is well-served because of it.
