Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Applications Open for Inaugural Academic Fellowships

Journalism educators seeking to improve coverage of violent events are invited to apply by March 29 for the inaugural Dart Center Academic Fellowship program.

Covering School Shootings

Student journalists and advisers from Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University show how they reported on mass-casualty attacks on their campuses. Video, timelines and tip sheets for student journalists and educators.

Covering Teen Suicide

By Brian Slodysko

Suicide is a leading cause of teenage deaths, but is often treated as a journalistic taboo. Reporters and researchers break down the complicated ethical issues reporters must face to get the story right.

Preparing Journalists for Emotions

By Kenna Griffin

A journalism educator tells the personal story of why she works to prepare journalists for the unique challenges of covering traumatic events.

Teaching Trauma Through Case Studies

By Sherry Ricchiardi

A professor of journalism at Indiana University offers two sample assignments that teach concepts related to victims and trauma by engaging students' interest in real-world reporting.

Teaching the Breaking News Story

By John Harris

An educator describes how he incorporated a grisly murder in his community into an upper-level journalism course.

Weathering the Trauma Storms: Developing Interviewing Technique

By Gavin Rees

Nearly every journalist in the course of their career will interview people who have experienced significant trauma. But how many receive any training for the task? This article describes how role-playing traumatic incidents might give student journalists valuable insight and hone crucial interviewing skills.

Interviewing Service Members

By Joe Hight

Suggestions for journalists interviewing service members returning from Iraq, the Middle East, or Afghanistan.

Hidden in Plain Sight

Video of "Hidden in Plain Sight" Panel

A video of the panel convened to discuss issues involving journalism about veterans of the war in Iraq.

Hidden in Plain Sight

Reporting on Iraq Veterans

From catastrophic physical injuries to the invisible wounds of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression, the Iraq war has exerted a heavy toll on hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops. At a recent Dart Center event at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, four pioneers in reporting the human impact of the Iraq War discussed the challenges of reporting on these veterans.