Court announces total photo ban after earlier rule is flouted by multiple media outlets
Five months ago, after a violation of the rule banning photography in hallways and other public areas of the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, the North Carolina court’s senior resident judge met with Charlotte media representatives.
Superior Court Judge Richard Boner reiterated the blanket ban, which has applied for over 20 years, but allowed the media to seek permission to film or take photos on specific occasions.
Then on Friday, apparently without giving the matter much thought, employees of multiple media organizations, including the Charlotte Observer, used their camera at a news conference with City Attorney Bob Hagemann outside a courtroom. On Tuesday, the court announced a new rule under which all photographers are banned, period, the Charlotte Observer reports.
Hagemann said he hadn’t given the cameras a thought, since he wasn’t familiar with the rule. Leaders of local television stations said their employees were aware of the rule and should have known better but didn’t think about the camera ban.
Ron Bilek, who serves as acting news director of WCNC, said staffers told him they had simply done what everyone else was doing. “It was the group mentality—everybody was shooting, so why wouldn’t I shoot?”
