From a media perspective, the trial of former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin will be the biggest trial in the age of streaming television.
Opening argument will begin around 10 a.m. Eastern time on Monday.
People will watch on streaming services like Law & Crime as well as television networks like HLN. Hammer-to-hammer coverage will be available all over the web and highlights will be available upon request. And Court TV will be back, having relaunched in 2019 with a mix of broadcast, cable and online distribution offerings.
Law & Crime owner Dan Abrams told me “there have been other trials in recent years that have sparked national interest” – the trials of Amber Guyger, Michelle Carter, Robert Durst – “but certainly not on the same scale.” He said that “the Hulk Hogan / Gawker civil trial also saw a large audience but again nothing like it.”
Abrams will do a double duty during the trial, wearing his hat on the air as chief legal analyst on ABC and his executive hat overseeing the coverage of Law & Crime.
To find out what to expect, read Eric Levenson’s preview for CNN.com. “In a first for Minnesota,” he wrote, “the trial will be broadcast live in its entirety to accommodate Covid-19 presence restrictions, giving the public a rare glimpse into the most important case of the Black Lives Matter era. “
Ken Jautz, the CNN executive who oversees HLN, told me that “it is right that this lawsuit receives such extensive coverage as it involves some of the most important issues of our time.”
The local leader
Here is the lead role of Reid Forgrave and Maya Rao in Sunday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune: “George Floyd pleading for his life below the knee of a Minneapolis cop has become a defining moment of our time. 10 months around the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue has turned into nothing less than an American account on justice, racial fairness, the proper role of law enforcement and the historic wrongs that society has done committed on blacks … “
Global coverage
“Hello from Minneapolis,” BBC’s Larry Madowo
wrote on arrival at the city airport to cover the trial. “All the world’s attention will be there,” he said. The presence of the BBC and other international media highlights the issues. “The public is watching for signs that police can be held accountable when someone dies in their custody,” the Guardian team wrote.
The role of cameras
Thanks to an eyewitness with a cell phone camera, “the knee Mr. Chauvin placed on Mr. Floyd’s neck was filmed for all to see,” wrote the BBC’s Joshua Nevett. “Angered by what they saw, protesters around the world have said it is time to end racial injustice. Now the cameras will allow them to see the justice system in real time.” As noted above, this is a first in Minnesota. A Court TV team will have three cameras in the courtroom. The flows will be grouped together and shared with all the points of sale. “Every gesture by Mr. Chauvin, down to the slightest facial expression, will be subject to public scrutiny,” Nevett wrote. “While not unusual in the United States, this kind of transparency raises long-debated questions about the role of cameras in courtrooms …”
This is not “the George Floyd trial”
There is a tendency to use Floyd’s name, under the assumption that his name is better known than Chauvin’s, but the media are thinking about how they name this trial. WaPo’s Steven Zeitchik captured some of the coaching discussions inside Court TV in a story a few weeks ago. “This trial really shouldn’t be George Floyd’s. He’s not being tried,” producer Emanuella Grinberg said at a Zoom meeting.
The cover of Court TV uses the names “Minnesota v. Derek Chauvin ”and“ The Death of George Floyd Murder Trial ”. HLN’s cover is titled “The Death of George Floyd – Derek Chauvin on Trial”.
What to expect
“Ideas of excessive force in general, ideas of police reform, ideas of police accountability, ideas of systemic injustice, ideas of treating black victims at the hands of white defendants – all of this will be addressed and so will be the elephants in the room, but in the courtroom, none of this can eclipse the government’s burden of proof in this specific lawsuit, ”said Laura Coates, senior legal analyst at CNN. “Derek Chauvin is the accused. Not American justice. Not all police officers.”
Cover details
– “Much of the coverage will be on the digital sites of news organizations,” wrote Variety’s Brian Steinberg.
– The opening arguments will be broadcast live everywhere on Monday morning. David Muir, Lester Holt and Norah O’Donnell will anchor special reports on their respective broadcast networks.
–HLN (CNN’s sister channel) will have hammer-to-hammer coverage on the cable, reminiscent of the courtroom coverage of the Casey Anthony, Conrad Murray, Jodi Arias and George Zimmerman cases. Mike Galanos will direct the cover, joined by Joey Jackson and Jean Casarez among others.
– CNN.com will be broadcasting a live stream at all times. ABC will have wall-to-wall coverage on its ABC News Live streaming platform anchored by Diane Macedo and Terry Moran. CBS “will make a feed available from its Minneapolis station, WCCO, via CBSN, its free streaming news offering,” according to the Steinberg story.
