Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

A resource for journalists who cover violence

Javier Manzano / Frontline Freelance Register

Smoke billowed from burning tires as a Syrian rebel fired toward government forces during clashes in Aleppo in 2012.

Announcement

A Call for Global Safety Principles and Practices

Freelance journalism has never been more dangerous. On February 12, an unprecedented coalition of leading news companies, freelance journalism organizations and press-freedom advocates responded to this crisis by launching global safety principles and practices for international news organizations and the freelancers who work with them. Full event video coverage is now available.

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

A volunteer places crosses symbolizing grave markers on the National Mall in Washington as part of a 24-hour vigil commemorating the thousands who have lost their lives to gun violence since the Sandy Hook School shooting.

Announcement

Apply Now: Covering Guns & Gun Violence

On January 8, 2011, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in Tucscon, Arizona, in a tragedy that killed six people and injured twelve others. Four years later, 86 Americans die of firearm related injuries each day – a rate 20 times higher than that of other developed countries. To help journalists and news organizations in the Southwest improve their reporting on guns and gun violence, the Dart Center is offering a two-day workshop May 29-30 in Phoenix.

Jika Gonzalez: Workshop participants learn how to drag an injured colleague out of danger during the Fall 2014 "Reporting Safely in Crisis Zones" course at Columbia Journalism School.

Workshop: Reporting Safely in Crisis Zones

Covering crisis presents some of the biggest challenges in the profession. Reporters must make quick decisions on whether to trust a translator or drive down a dangerous road. At Columbia Journalism School in New York City, this intensive four-day program, April 16-19, will prepare journalists to think critically about how to work effectively and safely in volatile situations such as war, conflict and disaster zones, with an emphasis on risk assessment and harm prevention.

Pablo Tosco / AFP / Getty

A Syrian man reacts while standing on the rubble of his house as others look for survivors and bodies in the Tariq al-Bab district of the northern city of Aleppo in February 2013.

In Depth

Syria: Most Dangerous Place for Journalists

Western journalists working in Syria are more psychologically distressed than their colleagues covering conflict elsewhere, according to recently published research. Psychologist Anthony Feinstein examines a confluence of factors that can undermine the emotional well-being of journalists, including the emergence of new threats in Syria, the relentless nature of the conflict and those predominantly tasked with its coverage.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

A young girl prays with her family during a service held under tents in place of the Sacré-Coeur church that was destroyed five years ago by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that killed as many as 316,000 people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

In Depth

Five Years, Or Three Centuries?

Amy Wilentz, journalist and author of "Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter From Haiti," reflects on the five-year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. "The problem lies in that passive voice of the hoped for results: that someone else is fixing Haiti, that someone else can build it back better, that scores of nice, good-hearted, kindly white people can fix the world’s first black republic," she writes. "Haiti is in crisis."

Ramon Espinosa / AP: Students jump a fence to get closer to the front row during a show by Cuban singer David Blanco, at the end of a march against terrorism in Havana, Cuba in September 2014. Youth marched through downtown Havana in protest against the United States policy towards the island nation.

Covering Cuba in an Era of Change

President Obama today announced that the United States will restore relations with Cuba for the first time in a half-century. On October 16, 17 and 18, the Dart Center and Columbia Journalism School hosted a conference to deepen journalists' reporting on issues involving Cuba and Cuban-American relations featuring historians, scholars, economists, policymakers and award-winning journalists. Full conference video is now available.

Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo

After reporting her rape to the University of Virginia Sexual Assault Board, Kathryn Russell was ordered not to speak with anyone about her case. The secrecy surrounding university legal processes is only one of the challenges facing reporters who write about campus sexual assault.

Interview

Covering Campus Sexual Assault

Is sexual assault the best-kept secret on U.S. college campuses? In 2009, a wide-ranging muckraking series by the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity revealed a disturbing culture of silence surrounding rape among students and institutional barriers to those victims who seek justice. In this piece, Center for Public Integrity staff writer Kristen Lombardi explains how she pierced the shroud of secrecy surrounding rape on college campuses.

John Moore / Getty Images: A woman crawls towards the body of her sister as Ebola burial team members take her sister Mekie Nagbe, 28, for cremation in Monrovia, Liberia.

Ebola: Covering a Modern Plague

The Ebola epidemic in Africa is the worst health emergency in recent history. It has killed more than 4,000 people and prompted public hysteria. Just as health professionals struggle to contain this disease, reporters are charting new protocols in safety and ethics. On December 3, media and medical experts joined at Columbia Journalism School to discuss the challenges of covering this calamity. Full event video is now available.

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