Reporters and photographers chasing attorneys, pounding on witnesses' car windows, and fighting for position are just some of the negative images of the media that linger long after O.J. Simpson was acquitted in his criminal trial. Another high-profile event, the Oklahoma City bombing trial, is scheduled to begin in Denver on March 31. It too will attract hundreds of journalists, but this time members of the media are working together, planning orderly and dignified coverage instead of a media circus. And their success will depend largely on cooperation - between the media and the court and, especially, between members of the press. Scores of news organizations, both print and broadcast, formed a unique media consortium even before the first pretrial hearing last spring.
Members believe it is the most important attempt yet to coordinate news coverage of a single event.