A TV station came up with an unusual workaround when its cameras were barred from covering a high profile corruption trial by drafting in puppets to recreate scenes from the US District Courtroom in Akron.
WOIO is airing segments at the end of its 10.00 pm broadcasts, with Sesame Street-style puppets reciting the actual testimony of witnesses in the case of ex-Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora. The nightly lampoon is breathlessly-anchored by a court reporter played by a cloth squirrel.
Dan Salamone, the news director of WOIO, told Cleveland daily The Plain Dealer that "The Puppet's Court" is designed to complement the station's more serious coverage aired earlier in its program.
"It's certainly an important trial, and we've put a lot of resources into it, but there also are aspects of this trial that are circus-like," Salamone said. "Some of the conversations from the wiretaps are almost juvenile."
The reaction to the broadcast is mixed, but the station won praise from visitors to its Facebook page, with one writing, "This is the best thing I have seen in forever. Seeing as how both our politicians and justice system seem like clowns or puppets most of the time, this is wholly appropriate! Keep it up!"
Dimora, a former county Democratic chairman in Cleveland, is being tried on bribery and racketeering charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
