How should the media cover the Anders Breivik case?

News that a Norwegian court had denied a public hearing to accused mass murderer Anders Breivik has touched off debate about the value of open court proceedings in cases with tremendous public interest.

A judge's decision to close accused terrorist Anders Breivik's pre-trial hearing has stirred debate about the value of open trials. (Scanpix Norway/Reuters)Breivik, who is accused of killing at least 76 people in an anti-Muslim rampage on Friday, had requested that his first hearing, in Oslo on Monday, be open.

But the court kept it closed, citing concerns about security and the ongoing investigation into Breivik's acts.

Predictably, a discussion has emerged about the value of open trials in cases like this one.

"I don't think there is any darkness that doesn't benefit from a little light," Jeffrey Dvorkin, the head of journalism at University of Toronto's Scarborough campus, told CBC's The Current.

"This isn't about a debating society, this about bringing this dreadful, horrible man into the full light. We will see this person for who he is."

"Openness didn't hurt us in the coverage of [Holocaust denier] Ernst Zundel, where we heard exactly the same reasoning - 'Don't give him a platform!'" added Toronto Star publisher John Cruickshank. "We gave him a platform and saw what he was. And it didn't advance his cause; in fact, it brought us a healthier society."

"It's always important to try to open up the discussion and get his arguments out in the open so they can be thoroughly debated in society" while not working "as a microphone" for him, said Lars Kristiansen, the head of current affairs and documentary at NRK, Norway's public broadcaster.

"There is a saying in Norwegian: 'Our trolls burst in the sun.'"

What role do you think the media does or should play in covering cases like Anders Breivik's? Do you see any value in publishing sensitive details of his case? Please share your thoughts in the comments field below.


(This survey is not scientific. Results are based on readers' responses.)