Newspapers: A Code for Crime Coverage

Even after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Dr. Sam Sheppard because of the inflammatory press coverage of his trial, most newsmen scorned all suggestions that they abide by any formal set of rules laid down by courts or bar associations to govern crime reporting. Their own good judgment, they insisted almost unanimously, was all that was needed. Last week the jointly owned Toledo Blade and Toledo Times, which the Ohio Bar Association had commended for quiet coverage of the Sheppard trial, broke ranks and announced the adoption of a code of ethics. "If we're going to...

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