Coverage of the Hutton Inquiry

I suspect that they are doing this to emphasize that it is a reconstruction - though of course there is no way of knowing if it was shot in widescreen or 4:3 and just masked to letterbox.

Have to say watching it reminded me a bit of Crown Court - slightly dodgy acting (well they can't have long to rehearse) and slightly familiar faces. (The chap playing Hutton looks familiar - Paul Jericho rings bells ?)

Newsnight have used this technique extensively in the past - though they seem to be using a more graphicised version this time - it must be very difficult to report on an enquiry that features your own programme so prominently...

Especially if the news story is not in your programme's or company's favour!

snort.

I think the lack of a proper set for the reconstruction (just having a black room with a single half wall) also helps to show it's a reconstruction. It's a good idea as it is much better to have real people instead of just words.

However I can't see why if journalists are allowed to broadcast all the stuff said whether in words or in a reconstruction the whole trial isn't just being televised or recorded to be shown later. What is the reasoning behind this?

I just knew in the topic that mdta would only have praise for sky news!

I must say Newsnight did an excellent job over the past evenings, and the BBC's Ten O Clock News has too.

TV Cameras are not allowed in a UK Court of Law and haven't been for years.. Simple as that. Hence why you get those pastel drawings of court action on the news.

However, there's nothing to stop journalists from reporting the comings and goings in the courtroom on the news, provided they don't do it actually from within the court itself.

I have to say, the reconstructions that Sky News has been doing have been a pleasant surprise to me. When people on here mentioned them, I thought that they'd be tacky, but they're actually quite good. I find it a lot easier to follow what's been said, probably because they hold my attention better than hearing bits of the inquiry regurgitated from a reporter.

I have been watching the both BBC and Sky coverage.
To be fair to the BBC they appear to be very objectional about it.

Sky at times appears to be more pro BBC than the BBC!!!

the ITV Evening News last night (Tuesday) did use it as chance to slag off the BBC (IMHO)

I thought it was an enquiry though - not a trial.

Exactly - cameras ARE allowed into inquiries, but only if it is permitted by the person conducting the inquiry. In the case of the Hutton Inquiry, there was a debate a couple of weeks ago about whether it should be televised, but it was decided that to avoid any further "trial by media", cameras would not be permitted in this case. But they can't do anything about broadcasters taking the official transcript and re-enacting it!

I was in Fleet Street at lunchtime and it was interesting to see the media encampment outside the Royal Courts of Justice

it was just after 12 noon, so Sky's Greg Milam, ITV News Channel's Dan Rivers, the BBC's Shaun Ley and Catherine Jones(?) from Five News were all doing two-ways.

Sky's Greg Milam has a laptop (with a Sky News sticker on it) on a trolley in front of him - presumably this is related to the Wi-Fi link they have with their team inside the building? The others all seemed to be relying on paper notebooks.

I could also see the BBC's usual camera position on the roof of a jeweller's shop across the road. They seemed to have erected a scaffolding canopy above the roof.

There was a gaggle of newspaper photographers sitting outside a cafe across the road with their Apple PowerBooks set up to transmit photos back to their offices.