A reporter at Kansas Watchdog had a curious request for the state Supreme Court:

Dear Mr. Keefover:

I’m seeking permission for the following at the Supreme Court hearings on Sept 21, 2009:

1) Audio recording. I’d like to record the hearings using a small digital voice recorder. I would make the recordings from a regular seat in the court room and do not require any other microphone or special placement of this device.

2) Tweeting. I’d like the option to post updates on Twitter about the court proceedings as they happen using either a cell phone or a notebook computer with a wireless attachment to the Internet.

Officials denied the request, citing court decorum. But, it will be interesting to see how new media might affect the ways in which our nation’s institutions operate. One only has to look at Obama’s comments on rapper Kanye West to see that new media is changing the definition of “off-the-record.”