Joshua McLaurin sought permission to make video recordings of criminal calendar proceedings in Walton and Newton Counties as part of a project examining Georgia’s criminal-justice system and indigent defendants’ experiences. The trial court denied the request after concluding that Uniform Superior Court Rule 22 applied only to news media and that recording would impose an excessive administrative burden. The Court of Appeals of Georgia held that any error concerning Rule 22 was harmless because the same statutory standards applied. It nevertheless vacated the ruling because the trial court had not fully applied OCGA §15-1-10.1. Georgia law favors open judicial proceedings, and denial of electronic coverage requires a factual basis in the record. The court could not reject the request merely because the proceedings were already open to people who could travel to the courthouse, or because individualized notice would require resources. The trial court also failed to address several statutory factors, including due process, special circumstances, and the ends of justice. The court questioned whether the petitioner’s possible profit motive or the quality of a future recording was a permissible basis for denial. The case was remanded for reconsideration under the correct legal framework.