How Reuters reported the AT&T/Time Warner ruling

A Reuters story posted Thursday explains how the wire service reported the judge’s ruling allowing AT&T Corp. to acquire Time Warner.

The story states, “Reuters reporters Diane Bartz and David Shepardson stood in line from 7 a.m. that morning to secure two of the 27 seats reserved for reporters. Shepardson’s seat was the more advantageous of the two, nearer the aisle.

“Leon’s rules were simple, but a nightmare for reporters working in a real-time, all-digital news environment.

“First, everyone in his courtroom was barred from having active electronic devices with them, and court officials tested each as people entered the court.

“Second, no one could leave until Leon had completed reading an abbreviated recap of his 172-page ruling and had left the courtroom himself. One of Leon’s clerks said the only exception would be for people ‘on a gurney.’

“With those rules in mind, Reuters had another reporter, Ginger Gibson, outside the courtroom with a series of prepared alerts ready to transmit from her laptop covering a range of possible outcomes. Gibson was set up just outside the door where she could see a signal from Bartz or Shepardson telling her which alert to send.”

Read more here.