This week, I’ll be finishing up my internship at the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office in Duluth. This was my senior “Capstone Experience” here at UW- Superior, where we bring together all our studies into one final culminating project. With my journalism major and legal studies minor, this internship fit the bill perfectly. I learned a great deal about the legal system and how criminal cases are prosecuted, but I also saw how the two professions are really quite similar.

One of the first similarities I noticed was in the skills used in both professions. As journalism students, we spend a lot of time learning the nuts and bolts of that trade: investigation, interviewing, research, and (of course) writing. This prepared me quite well for working in the County Attorney’s Office. Part of my duties involved drafting “statements of probable cause.” These are the part of the criminal complaint, filed with the court, that basically explains how the facts of the case fit the definition of a certain crime.

Just as in news reporting, before you can write a story about something, you have to understand it yourself. To write these “P.C. Statements” I had to read the case files, interviews, reports by police and investigators, look at evidence, and look at the statutory elements of the crime.

Quite often, these cases were complicated. They usually involved different stories from a number of witnesses that often conflict with one another. I found my training and experience as a reporter had me fairly well prepared to jump into these, comprehend the basic gist of the case, fit it with the legal definition of a crime, and write a concise summary of the story including all the important facts. It was a lot like writing a news story, only a little more specific.

Another connection between journalism and the law is their common focus on public service. Every good reporter I’ve met, and everyone at the County Attorney’s Office is acutely aware that they work for, and are responsible to, the general public. Journalism serves the community by reporting events and keeping people informed. Prosecutors help protect public safety, work on behalf of crime victims, and represent the interests of the state. On the other side of the table, defense attorneys help protect individual rights, ensure the rules are followed, and guard everyone’s right to a fair trial.

During my internship, I was able to observe and play a small part in some of these trials. There were two murder trials, and a criminal sexual conduct trial that received quite a bit of media attention. These cases were all terribly sad for everyone involved. Trials involve real people and real stories, at some of the most terrible and difficult times in their life. Legal practitioners and reporters are both tasked with the tough job of digging into these events and helping expose them to the public. This requires sensitivity, tact, and careful consideration.

At the same time, it was great to see the legal system and the press working side by side during these trials. As the attorneys, judges, and jurors did their work as parts of the judicial machinery, the reporters were right there at the courthouse keeping the community informed of the progress.

Another similarity in these professions is the impact they have on democracy. A well informed public is absolutely crucial to a healthy democracy. Reporters keep us educated about current events and political issues, so we know what we’re doing when we go to the ballot box. They also let us know what’s going on in our community if we want to get involved at the grass roots level.

Attorneys are responsible for getting facts and exhibits into evidence so that juries can make informed decisions about the guilt of defendants. In terms of law and politics, this is where the rubber meets the road, so to say. We send representatives to the capitol to make laws, but the courtroom is where they get meted out. So although they perform slightly different functions, both professions are equally vital to our democracy.

Ethics is also a feature that is common to both. In journalism, facts need to be checked and opinions need to be attributed to maintain objectivity. It is important to present both sides of a story equally and fairly. Although lawyers are trying to be persuasive and advocate for their client’s position, accuracy, honesty, confidentiality, and ethics are still critically important. In both fields, ethical violations are completely unacceptable, and one would risk losing their job to do it.

All in all, this internship nicely tied together two strong, and closely related programs here at UW- Superior. It gave me a great taste of what sort of work they do in the prosecutor's office, and something to consider as I move on to law school next year. I was fortunate to have such an interesting and beneficial experience, and I would certainly recommend it to other students with an interest in these areas.