Juries
Media Atwitter over Al Roker’s Twitter Photos from Jury Duty Wait
Posted May 29, 2009, 08:08 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Today show weatherman Al Roker got caught in the middle of a media storm when he took pictures of potential jurors on his iPhone yesterday and posted them to Twitter while waiting to be called for jury duty.
The postings spurred a lesson in courthouse decorum and an apology from Roker. The New York Post ran a story headlined “Oh, What a Twit!” while a story in the New York Daily News began, “Al Roker's stint on jury duty was short—and tweet.”
One photo showed potential jurors from the back while another showed a potential juror’s face, the Post story says.
The chief jury clerk asked Roker to knock off the photography, spurring Roker to acknowledge a mistake. On his Twitter page, the weatherman tried to explain his actions. "So everyone is clear, I am NOT taking pictures in the courtroom," Roker explained. "So folks need to lighten up. I am in the jury lounge."
Roker said he was “just trying to share the experience of jury duty. One that I think is important and everyone should take part in."
Court spokesman David Bookstaver put a positive spin on the faux pas. “It does a world of good to let people know about jury service and that Mr. Roker did his, just like everybody else," he told the Post.
Roker was not chosen for jury duty.
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