By Dave Busiek, Iowa Capital Dispatch
April 17, 2024
I was astounded Tuesday evening when I turned on CNN and saw anchors and analysts revealing details about the seven jurors picked so far in the first criminal trial of Donald Trump.
There weren’t any names or faces revealed, but many other facts were. At the risk of compounding the error, but citing one example to make the point, here’s how CNN described a juror.
“The third seated juror is a corporate lawyer. He’s originally from Oregon. He gets his news from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Google. He’s a younger man who’s never been married and doesn’t have kids.”
How long is it going to take an internet sleuth to figure out who this guy is, if it hasn’t already happened by the time this column is published?
Then a whole host of problems will ensue. Trump’s anonymous Internet trolls will start digging into the juror’s background to find any whiff of controversy that might be there. He will be threatened with all manner of bodily harm. There might be offers of vast riches if he will vote one way or another. Stories about him will be made up. People will contact him under false pretenses, trying to trap him or trip him up.
Look no further than Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who were reportedly approached by a publicist for Kanye West – offering to help but really to pressure them to change their story, according to Reuters. Both women had to leave their homes and move into a safe house because of the vile, racist threats made against them.
The corporate lawyer originally from Oregon is just one example. Revealing details about the other jurors were reported, that in my view, give way too much information.
Iowa rules protect jurors
Jury selection is supposed to be sacrosanct. Here in Iowa, where we have one of the most open court systems in the country for electronic media coverage of trials, there are rules that protect jurors. Reporters can be present but cameras and microphones are not allowed in the courtroom during jury selection. Jurors’ names are never reported unless they choose to reveal their names after the trial.
During the trial, jurors are never shown on camera. Never. When they file in and out of the courtroom, the camera operator is instructed to point the camera at the floor, or away from the jury box.
All of this is done to protect the jurors, who have been summoned to perform their civic duty. They haven’t chosen to be there. The law says they MUST be there. They and their families need to be protected, particularly from criminal defendants who are dangerous. Our criminal justice system is corrupted if jurors vote to acquit someone because they fear for their lives if they vote guilty.
What do we need to know?
I have no issues with general descriptions of the jury panel as a whole. For instance, it’s made up of eight women and four men, or the racial makeup, if that’s relevant to the case.
But specific details about individual jurors should be off-limits. This may be the only Trump case that goes to trial before the election. As a country, we can’t afford for it to run off the rails.
Do we Americans need to know these specific details about individual jurors? At this point, we don’t. If, after the trial, they wish to reveal details about their personal lives to help us understand why they arrived at the verdict, that is their choice.
Until then, I wish the news media would show some restraint – something we’re not very good at.
Dave Busiek spent 43 years working in Iowa radio and television newsrooms as a reporter, anchor and the last 30 years as news director of KCCI-TV, the CBS affiliate in Des Moines. In that role, he planned coverage of the Iowa caucuses, the floods of 1993 during which 250,000 central Iowans lost drinking water for 12 days, and organized the first national debate between Democratic candidates for president in 2015. He served as national board chair of the Radio-Television News Directors Association. In 2014, he was Broadcasting and Cable Magazine’s News Director of the Year. He was inducted into the Iowa Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2018 and is a recipient of the Iowa Broadcast News Association’s Jack Shelley award. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He retired at the end of 2018. He is a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative and his blog, “Dave Busiek on Media” appears on Substack.
The Siouxland Observer 
Totally agree that the identity of jurors should be confidential but not because Trump would threaten them. Being hounded by the media would be much more of a concern. Very unfortunate that has be included in this article. Once again, very divisive comments.
Actually it’s not divisive, it’s quite accurate. Trump has a history of threatening judges, prosecutors, jurors, and others. The media don’t threaten that I’m aware of. The person who wrote the article has years of experience in the media in Iowa. Please note, this is a commentary on the news. It is the man’s opinion on something very relevant going on. There is actually a difference in something written as opinion versus something written as news. He has every right to express his opinion. I happen to believe what he wrote and that’s why I republished it on these pages. Like I said before, no one is forcing you to read the posts on my site, Margaret. You are not going to find any sympathy from me by defending Trump or White Nationalists of any sort.
Informative and relevant post Gary. Thank you, and anyone who doesn’t comprehend juror intimidation and threats, especially in this case, isn’t living in reality.