The whole process of criminal cases is divided into three stages: investigation, prosecution and trial. Among them, the functions of the above three stages are exercised by the public security organs, the people's procuratorates and the people's courts, except for the self-investigation of cases by the procuratorate. Generally speaking, the investigation organ is in a state of high secrecy in the investigation stage of criminal cases. Under normal circumstances, the staff of the investigation organ will not be interviewed by reporters at this stage, let alone disclose the case, which is the requirement of laws and regulations and the internal discipline of the investigation organ. For journalists, they should be responsible for the society and themselves, and it is best not to get involved in the reporting of criminal cases at the investigation stage.
For some major and influential cases within a certain scope, the spokesperson of the case-handling organ may make necessary notification to the media during the investigation stage. For such cases, the reporter should report carefully around the spokesman's talk or the relevant requirements of the propaganda department, and must not imagine it out of thin air and extend it at will.
In the stage of examination and prosecution, although the facts of the case are clear and the investigation organ has issued a prosecution opinion according to law, the prosecution opinion is still in a relatively confidential state and should not be made public. Therefore, if the case must be reported at this stage, it is suggested that only the charges involved in the case and the time of transfer for review and prosecution should be reported. At the same time, the relevant procedural provisions of China's Criminal Procedure Law on investigation and prosecution of criminal cases can be written into the report, so that the audience can understand the relevant legal provisions.