Illinois courtrooms have become more transparent during a pilot program, authorized by the state Supreme Court, to allow cameras and microphones in court proceedings under certain circumstances.

The Lee County trial of Byron Adams, who was convicted this week of the September 2009 murder of Margaret Atherton, provided an example of how extended media coverage opens courtroom proceedings to a wider audience.

Before this year, Illinois was among a dwindling number of states that denied news reporters the use of cameras and microphones inside its trial courtrooms. Reporters with pens and notebooks were pretty much all the news coverage that was allowed.