One of my favourite annual reads, the Project for Excellence in Journalism‘s State of the Media report, is published today. OK I need to get out more – but it’s packed full of interesting stuff. Here’s one of the snippets:

There is already evidence that basic monitoring of local government has suffered. Regional concerns, as opposed to local, are likely to get less coverage. Matters with widespread impact but little audience appeal, always a challenge, seem more at risk of being unmonitored.

It’s addressing the American media, but the point echoes over here. On which topic, let me pass on a couple of anecdotes from a PR person.

This person had found themselves representing two individuals.

One wished to remain out of the papers. Success! No one covered the court case. The second client wished to publicize a successful conviction. Despite the story’s newsworthiness, no reporters were assigned to cover it. A freelance was hired to file courtroom copy. Success!

Now that’s PR drinking stories for you, but it’s a little alarming. If the press no longer selectively monitors or records the proceedings of our courts, then shouldn’t some system of public reporting – a Hansard of sorts – be instigated, to mark the proceedings of justice?

Certainly you can now search the records of the Old Bailey online – it’s just that the cases listed happened centuries ago.