MEDIA ASK FOR OPEN HEARING IN AL-QAEDA CASE

Fox News Network is the only television news entity to join a request by several leading newspaper and magazine publishers and National Public Radio asking a judge in the Guantánamo war crimes trials to allow coverage if an alleged al Qaeda leader testifies about his mistreatment in secret CIA prisons abroad. Reuters reported on Monday that lawyers for Abd al Rahim al Nashiri plan to ask the tribunal on Wednesday to allow Nashiri to describe in open court the methods that were used during his interrogations. In such cases reporters are usually allowed to monitor the testimony in a separate room, with the audio feed delayed 40 seconds in order to give security personnel time to cut off the audio if classified information is mentioned, but the judge could close the court entirely to reporters. Ordinarily the major broadcast networks are at the forefront of media protests when judicial entities attempt to restrict court coverage, and it could not be immediately determined why none of them had joined the request for an open court. The request was initiated by the Miami Herald and its parent, the McClatchy Co. They were joined by the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Tribune Company, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and National Public Radio.