I read a very interesting article in the Washington Lawyer, "Legal Journalism at a Crossroads," by Sarah Kellogg (September 2008, p. 21-28). The subtitle provides the teaser: "Who will tell the public the story of the American legal system?"
Mainstream media is cutting back, even eliminating, their coverage of the law and courts. In its place, the legal profession is taking up the banner. Kellogg portrays the new legal journalism emanating from the courts, law firms, specialized legal news publishers, lawyers, and law professors using Web sites, blogs, wikis, and other new media sites. But as insiders, and stakeholders, how well can lawyers report on their own profession in an unbiased view that is receptive to the general public? Time will tell. For now, unbiased, outside perspectives on the law and courts is an endangered genre.
As a lawyer and an employee of one of a specialized legal news outlet, Law.com (incisivemedia), it is easy to get wrapped up in our own reporting. It will be interesting to see how receptive the rest of the world is to our view when our outlets hit "main street." For example, the Blog of the Legal Times is now headed to Facebook. I'm sure Twitter and Twine are not far off.
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