Interview with Laurie Mason

Liz Quinn (eq24)
Interview with Legal Reporter

For my interview with the reporter I chose to interview Laurie Mason, a legal reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times. Mason has been a reporter for the Times for nine years and she has been covering the courts for six years. According to Mason, courts are one of the busiest beats at the paper. She is never in the newsroom. Mason takes a laptop to the Bucks County Courthouse in Doylestown and sits in on trials, guilty pleas and hearing. She averages about 10 to 12 stories a week.
Mason just finished up a 10-day rape trial. Mason said, “It was a challenging case to write because the victims were drug addicts and prostitutes. Of course, I stated that in the first story, so they were reluctant to talk to me.”
Mason said there were four days of DNA and police evidence, and both women and the rapist took the stand. The jury was out for two days. He was found guilty Friday. His name is Clinton Hitner and the story is printed in phillyBurbs.
Ninety percent of the stories Mason writes about are criminal cases. She also covers judicial elections and issue stories at least once a month. According to Mason one of the nice things about covering the court is that there’s tons of public records that she can get her hands on quickly. She also has a huge list of contacts since she has been doing this for so long.
Mason said the trick to getting parties to talk to you is to be fair and impartial at all times. Mason said, “I pride myself in being well respected by defense attorneys, and they give me a lot of information. Remember, when you’re covering courts you meet people on the worst day of their lives. I’ve had people freak out at me when I ask them for a comment. Child molester’s mothers are the absolute worst. They hate me worse than the police who arrest their son.”
When a case doesn’t turn out like people expect, a reporter is the last person they want to talk to. Mason said for example victims might be very chatty before a trial, but if the defendant is found not-guilty they’ll want you to go away. You have to be kind and professional at all times, or no one will talk to you at all.
Mason said, “A good trial is like a play; there’s an opening, lots of action and then a closing. You can put a lot of description in your stories. It’s never boring.”
The court beat is also good for Mason because she is a mom and the hours work. She also does features and profiles, usually with a legal slant.