Judge angry about Bloomberg trial story

The judge overseeing the Fabrice Tourre trial became upset Thursday about a Bloomberg News story depicted the scene inside the jury deliberation room, reports Mark DeCambre of the New York Post.

DeCambre writes, “‘This is what makes me angry,’ fumed Judge Katherine Forrest, looking at the media section of the courtroom.

“The Bloomberg story provided a detailed description of the jury room — including the fact that the nine-person jury drew on a white board ‘a diagram of a tranched collaterized debt obligation.’

“The scene was visible to all reporters at the trial as the jury entered the courtroom through a door at the back of the room.

“Such descriptions of the jury room — which is not open to the public — aren’t usually included in media reports.

“Forrest said the story could give the public the impression that the proceedings weren’t ‘confidential.’

“Standing up in front of the courtroom and angrily gesturing toward the media corp, Judge Forrest, without naming names, told journalists waiting for the verdict to switch seats away from the door leading to the jury’s deliberation chamber.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.