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Careers in legal journalism
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Legal stories are everywhere. True crime thrillers that make Law and Order
look downright tame. Scandals in sports, entertainment, business, or
government that put people's lives and reputations on the line. Tales
of justice, and injustice, in the war on terror or on our city streets.
Law is about the rules that we live under, and what happens when we
break those rules — or the rules aren't enforced as intended.
How do reporters learn this beat? Some who cover the law have law
degrees. Some even practiced law before entering journalism. Others
learn about law and the justice system by being good reporters and
asking lots of questions.
The Carnegie Legal Reporting Program at Newhouse helps all
aspiring journalists – those who may go on to law school; those who
want to learn on the job; and those who won't cover law regularly but
need to understand it — by exposing students to how the law develops and works, and why systems work the way they do.
Once you're in journalism, here are jobs where knowledge of the law and legal reporting puts you at a huge advantage:
- Local courts beat: The best courts reporters learn enough about the law and justice system to find the real stories beneath the surface.
- Cops and crime: Every police and public safety reporter confronts the legal system in every story.
- Supreme Court and state appeals courts: Good legal reporters can explain not just what a court ruled, but why.
- Legal affairs: Major newspapers, magazines, and broadcast networks go beyond breaking legal news to cover the issues that drive those events.
- Government and politics: Local, state, national, and
international legislatures and regulators affect our lives in
everything that they do. What can patterns in immigration law
enforcement from the past teach us about the current policy debate?
When controversy erupts over surveillance and detention policies in the
war on terror, how can we sort fact from vitriol in the nightly
shoutfests on TV? Smart legal coverage will inform these and other
debates.
- Technology and science: When Google and Microsoft compete,
engineers aren’t the only soldiers. Look for the lawyers: Every
important invention, or fight over money or ethics in business and the
sciences, touches on law.
- Sports and entertainment: doping scandals, divorce, the Duke
lacrosse team, squabbles over money . . . celebrities and business
owners routinely get into legal messes or do deals with legal stakes as
high as the financial ones. Reporters on these beats need to understand
legal basics to do their jobs properly.
- Business: thanks to Enron and similar Wall Street scandals, every business journalist needs a legal playbook.
- Investigative reporting: Virtually all investigative reporting concerns laws and how systems work.
- Editing: All local news editors must understand the courts and law to select and edit stories intelligently.
- Talk and analysis shows: from specialized "justice" shows to general shows on the news, legal topics are a staple.
- Culture and religion: Our society's hot-button issues are at
the intersection of social attitudes and legal policy: immigration
policy, discrimination, gay marriage, religious freedom, euthanasia,
reproductive rights . . . few moral and cultural questions don't also
involve a legal question.
The Legal Reporting Program is highly flexible, depending on your interests. Ask us to help tailor your studies to your career and academic interests.
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