With the real-life drama of James Trimble's triple-homicide trial as a classroom, Kent JMC students received a valuable learning opportunity by covering the trial alongside professional journalists. With one of the victims being a Kent State University student, they also got an up close and personal lesson on balancing emotion and objectivity when the story hits close to home. JMC graduate student Jerome Anderson asked three students who covered the trial about their reactions. Students were Broadcast Journalism majors Shannon Peluso and Jean-Marie Papoi and Newspaper major Mike Lewis.

Talk about how you felt walking into the courtroom for the first time. Have your feelings about the experience changed since then?

Peluso: "Walking into the court room was almost an exhilarating experience. As a beginning journalist, I always think about the events I'll have to cover and things that I will see. I was excited to get this opportunity. It's not every day that you get to sit in on a capital murder trial. Every time I get the opportunity to cover it, I do. I look forward to going into the courtroom and experiencing the trial first hand."

Lewis: "I had been in a courtroom before for minor traffic violations, so I wasn't too surprised. It was the first, however, I had gone with a press pass. The setting and situation became very real when Trimble was brought in. When the jury came in and everybody had to stand, I realized the amount of respect paid to those twelve individuals. Never before had I fully appreciated the justice system and the burden placed on the jurors...."


Shannon Peluso

Papoi:  "I was extremely nervous on my first day in the courtroom, mainly because of being in the same room with (James) Trimble. We had a decent amount of preparation in class before and I already know a good deal about the trial just from following it through TV2 and the local papers. But to be there in person experiencing it first hand made me look at things differently. I suppose it's mainly because I've seen and heard things most people don't get to see and it totally changed my perspective."

Have you had the opportunity to interact with professional journalists covering the trial? What was that experience like?

Peluso:  "Yes, as a matter of fact I sat next to a reporter from the Akron Beacon Journal.   He explained a few things to me that I didn't understand and that was extremely helpful.   We even shared notes and talked about a few of the conditions of the trial during a break. The other professional journalists are extremely helpful as well. It's refreshing to know that the people I will be working with for the next 30 years of my life are willing to help the fresh blood."

Lewis: "Yes, I did have an opportunity to interact with other journalists. Specifically, I spoke with Ed Meyer of the Akron Beacon Journal and Dave O'Brien of the Record Courier.
Both were nice. Meyer complimented the Daily Kent Stater. He also answered some of my questions about the trial like whether he thought the state had proven murder in all three cases? He said no, only in the case of the little boy. It also helped to be able to ask somebody if I missed a name or how it was spelled. At the same time, I observed him. He typed his story on his laptop while court was in session. I think we both took very similar notes, but it appeared he was correlating previous notes with new bits of testimony then joting ideas down. In both cases, I read the finished work the next day. All three of us told the story differently, but Meyers' was closer to my version than O'Brien. I thought he went into too much detail."

Papoi:  "This was my favorite part! My second time there I talked with two FOX 8 camera guys, and at the end of the day they shared their pool tape with me to give me great footage that I didn't get because my tape ran out. We talked about careers, some of the experiences they've had in the field, and what to expect starting out at a station. I also talked with a tech guy and a reporter form 19 Action News who were very helpful when it came to setting up my equipment. That day I felt like a real reporter and forgot about school for a moment. All I could focus on was the trial and how I would present my information for the news that evening."

Lewis: "Yes, I think it will give me an advantage. How many other student journalists covered a capital murder trial in the U.S.? I kept every clip from the ABJ, DKS and the RC. From reading those clips, I learned the best way to write a story dealing with the courts. Detail and accuracy are most important. Without a doubt,