Local journalist honored at MJC annual meeting

The Massachusetts Judges Conference (MJC) presented its 2011 Journalism and Justice Award to television reporter Neil Ungerleider for significantly helping the public understand the court's role in Massachusetts.

The manager of WCVB-TV Digital and Multimedia in Boston humbly accepted the award in front of about 70 MJC members at their annual meeting in Westborough, Mass.

"I didn't believe it," Ungerleider said. "... I don't think of it as a job it's something I really like to do, and I've gotten to do some really good stories. And, you know, my joy has come from the stories."

The MJC presents the award annually only if there is a recipient who deserves to be honored, said Judge David Sacks, associate justice at the Hampden Probate and Family Court. The conference had no doubt that Ungerleider was the right candidate, he said.

As an investigative reporter at WCVB for nearly 30 years, Ungerleider has written and produced award-winning stories such as the "Inside Bridgewater" series, which investigated Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane. The series revealed the inhumane treatment that its patients experienced inside the hospital walls.

"It was a life-changing experience," Ungerleider said. "To see criminally insane people is just, it's startling, but on the other hand you realize that something happened to them in their life. You look at them and say, 'What happened that made them this way?'"

Ungerleider also won awards for his series "Punishment Without a Crime," which explored the imprisonment of innocent alcoholic women in Massachusetts.

In addition to his investigative reporting, Ungerleider is a co-chair of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Judiciary-Media Committee. This organization helps foster positive relationships between the media and the courts, Sacks said.

"What we've worked a lot on the committee are access issues," Ungerleider said. "And being sure that the rules that allow the media in and allow cameras in, you know, really work in the best interest of giving the public an understanding of what happens."

During his time on the committee, Ungerleider has helped develop guidelines for court officials and the media pertaining to trials and hearings.

These guidelines also clarify the public's right to access records and attend court trials.

Ungerleider said these guidelines are important to have during a time where the definition of a journalist has changed, and the use of technology has changed.

"The courts found themselves being asked by people who did not work for big media organizations to come into their courts, And record their proceedings," Ungerleider said. "To use laptops, to use cell phones and smart phones, and they just didn't really know what to do."

As long as someone regularly disseminates the news they are considered a journalist. This includes bloggers and reporters from both small and large news organizations, Ungerleider said.

Although Sacks hasn't had any experience with journalists conducting real-time reporting in his courtroom, he said that there are serious issues when it comes to gang and domestic violence cases.

"In a case with victims and domestic violence restraining orders," Sacks said. "Is that [real-time reporting] going to make them less likely, or less wanting to come forward to protect their rights? Those are serious questions that are still under consideration."

Ungerleider has been a journalist for almost 40 years. He has worked in both radio and TV as an editor, reporter and producer, but the courts have always held his heart.

"There's nothing more exciting and interesting than watching a jury walk back into a courtroom," Ungerleider said. "You just don't know what's going to happen next."