MOSCOW, Idaho - A coalition of news organizations plans to fight a recent attempt by the Moscow murder suspect's defense team to have cameras removed from his court hearings.

Bryan Kohberger faces the death penalty if convicted of killing Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle.

The case has drawn international attention since the murders last fall near the University of Idaho campus.

Kohberger's defense team has previously argued against journalists' access to court hearings, calling the media attention "twisted" and "grotesque."

In a recent filing, they accused media organizations of violating a judge's order not to focus solely on their client and saying images of their client in pre-trial hearings will poison the jury pool.

A coalition of news organizations wants to fight against removing cameras from the courtroom.

Attorneys for the group, which includes KXLY and our parent company Morgan Murphy Media, filed a motion to intervene Wednesday, asking that the group's voice be heard in arguing against the motion.

The coalition includes other local and national news companies as well as state and national organizations like the Washington State Association of Broadcasters and the RTDNA (Radio Television Digital News Association.)

It previously argued that a gag order in the case was over-broad and limited public access to the proceedings.

At the time of those filings, Judge John Judge reserved judgment on allowing cameras in the courtroom, saying they were allowed now, but that could change at any time.

The press believe that media access can be done responsively and, especially in death penalty cases, is necessary to ensure that criminal proceedings are done fairly and in the public eye.

The media coalition points to an article mentioned in the defense motion, in which the defense says Fox News focuses strictly on Kohberger.

The coalition points out that in that story, photos also showed Kohberger's attorneys entering the courtroom, the prosecutor, the murder victims and even a still photo from a previous traffic stop involving Kohberger.

Attorneys point to several other stories done in national and local media that don't focus solely on Kohberger, but instead include images of the victims and video of the other participants in the court hearings.

Judge Judge scheduled a hearing on the matter for this Friday.

The journalists' group has asked for a delay of at least one week so attorneys can prepare arguments.

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