By MADISON CRAMER

After a major crime or event occurs, speculation by the public becomes almost immediate. What happened? Why did it happen? The list of questions goes on and on. Eventually, the conspiracy theorists emerge. What if this was all planned? What if nothing actually happened?

And so on.

Then, it becomes time for the trial. The conspiracy theorists are out in full force, still trying to convince the public that they’re correct. This is where the importance of courtroom reporting comes in. Inside the courtroom, those who testify are sworn to the truth. Therefore, this is where the real facts are learned and this information divulged in the courtroom is what the public needs to know. It’s the job of journalists to report this information to the public so that everyone can hear the facts.

Granted, some trials are stricter than others, and obviously there’s some things the public just can’t know. But when there’s information to be relayed to the public, journalists should be there. This kind of coverage is vital because, as I first mentioned, speculation is inevitable following a major crime or event. The facts inside the courtroom can help put this speculation to rest. As an example, watch or read coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in federal court in Boston this week and next week.

Therefore, we need journalists to cover trials in order to inform the public on facts that would otherwise solely be speculation. These journalists are extremely important, and without them, we would be left with endless unanswered questions and theories about what did or didn’t happen.