The first-ever criminal trial of a U.S. president begins in Manhattan on Monday, April 15.
Former President Donald J. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection to an illegal hush-money payment made to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, days before the 2016 presidential election.
Of the four criminal investigations into Mr. Trump’s conduct, his case in New York may be the only one to go to trial before the 2024 election. The stakes for Mr. Trump and his candidacy — not to mention, newsrooms across the country — are high.
“We’ve all covered trials before. We’ve all covered big trials. But nobody has ever covered the trial of a president,” said Stephen Merelman, the criminal justice editor on the Metro desk, which reports news of the New York City region. “It’s a tremendous challenge and privilege to have stewardship of this part of history,” he added.
For months, Mr. Merelman and a team of journalists have been preparing to cover the trial, which will begin with jury selection and could last six to eight weeks. The team will collaborate with people from across the Times newsroom to provide up-to-the-minute coverage.
Here’s what readers can expect.
Covering the Courtroom
For journalists, Manhattan criminal court is normally relatively “easy to navigate,” according to Jonah Bromwich, who has covered criminal justice in New York for The Times since 2021. Typically, regular members of the press corps — a group of reporters assigned to a beat or event — don’t need to pass through a metal detector to enter the building, and are free to find a seat in the press area and use their laptops. But Mr. Trump’s trial will come with unique challenges; he attracts crowds of supporters and protesters.
“Logistically, he’s a complicated guy to cover,” Mr. Bromwich said.
Mr. Merelman expects that up to 10 reporters, including Mr. Bromwich, Maggie Haberman, Kate Christobek and Ben Protess, will cover the trial every day, from the press gallery inside the courtroom, outside the building in Lower Manhattan and from the New York Times building in Midtown Manhattan.
Media organizations have to arrange their seats ahead of time with court administrators. The Times will also have reporters and freelancers lining up overnight to secure seats in overflow rooms, where reporters watch the proceedings on monitors. Mr. Merelman called these place holders in line “the real unsung heroes of the whole thing.”
Court will be in session every weekday, except Wednesdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or later. Journalists are prohibited from recording inside the courtroom.
Sending Dispatches, Fast
The Times will turn to its live coverage model to report on the trial. Reporters will send dispatches from the courthouse to their editors; the short posts will appear online moments later. Mr. Bromwich estimated he may send updates every three minutes. The goal is to serve readers with new information that isn’t overwhelming.
“Our aim for this is that it’s a stream of news, but you won’t be disoriented if you dip into it in the middle,” Mr. Merelman said.
Reporters will also publish longer, more analytical articles. When court ends for the day, editors and reporters will wind down live coverage on the web and turn to the “ledeall,” the newsroom term for a comprehensive article that more wholly explains the event. Each evening, the ledeall will appear on The Times’s digital home page; it will also appear in the next day’s print newspaper.
The reporting will also inform newsletters, like Trump on Trial, and podcasts, like “The Daily.” Reporters will record short videos in the vertical video format native to some social media platforms.
Responding to Readers’ Questions
The Metro desk may be leading the charge, but journalists from other realms, including Politics, Audience and Video, will play an important role in the coverage, too.
The priority for Jennie Coughlin, an Audience editor, is to ensure “readers’ questions are being answered,” she said.
Ms. Coughlin, who has worked with the Metro desk for two years, and her colleagues rely on a suite of social media and search engine optimization tools to track what questions readers are asking about the trial. If the public is curious about a witness, or a line of questioning, Ms. Coughlin might suggest writing an article that provides insight. The Times also recently introduced a module in which readers can comment on live coverage.
Heading into this unprecedented trial, where the defendant’s every remark may hold political ramifications, each Times journalist needs to be prepared to pivot topics, analyze testimony and explain what could happen next.
“Just like baseball,” Mr. Merelman said, “it’s going to be a long season.”
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