News websites and a High Court judge are to discuss internet coverage of David Bain's retrial today after the judge ruled against video coverage on websites.
Bain's retrial for the murder of five members of his family in Dunedin in 1994 will start in the High Court at Christchurch tomorrow.
The Press, NZ Herald On Line, TV3, Stuff.co.nz and Getty Images had applied to provide video coverage on their websites, with TV3 describing its coverage as "live-streaming".
But Justice Graham Pankhurst said yesterday 2003 media guidelines did not provide for internet coverage.
"I consider it inappropriate to extend coverage to the internet, when the effects and implications of this development have not been considered," he said.
The judge has asked for a conference call today to clarify the issue, Fairfax Group online editor Sinead Boucher, who is responsible for the Stuff website, told NZPA.
Stuff would still be pushing for video coverage but it was not asking for "live-stream" coverage, she said.
"The judge referred to live streaming in his minutes so there may be two different issues there." The website was looking to provide multi media coverage on line, text, pictures and video, which would be edited in the same way television news would be.
"It's quite a fast changing area and the judiciary want to think through all the implications so we expect to strike these kinds of things."
