ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the role that First Amendment rights have played in opening American court proceedings to coverage by broadcasters. Contemporary criticism of televised trials appears to be almost invariably premised on the romanticized fiction that prior to the introduction of television coverage, court reporting was neither sensationalist nor a threat to defendants' rights to a fair trial. The Court ruled that the defendant's right to a fair trial out-weighed any access right the media might have to televise proceedings, and identified the "public trial" guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment as one belonging to the accused and not the public. The main justification for the prohibition of cameras in Canadian courts appears to relate to concerns that television coverage may affect the fairness of trials or the administration of justice. The issue of televising has only once been considered by a superior Australian court.
