Allowing journalists to report on hearings is welcome. Now editors need to give them the resources to be able to tell these complex stories properly
Every day, the emails arrive. Over the nine years I’ve reported on family courts, desperate missives from families embroiled in court proceedings have landed in my inbox telling me that the judge is biased, the “guardian” representing their child is corrupt, social workers have lied, pulverising cross-examinations by barristers have traumatised them, poor advice from solicitors has damaged their case, and the family justice system’s delays and decisions have destroyed their family and harmed their child.
I must have read thousands. And some of them are true.
Louise Tickle co-ordinates The Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s Family Justice project, which provides information on the reporting pilot for media, family members and lawyers.