Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Children and Media Coverage of Trauma

By Christina Cantrell and Elana Newman

An overview of current research on the short- and long-term impacts of media coverage of tragedy on children, as well as aggravating risk factors and suggestions for future research.

Covering Trauma: Impact on Journalists

By River Smith and Elana Newman

An overview of current research on the occupational hazards for journalists covering traumatic events, the risk factors that aggravate those effects and some suggestions for mitigating those factors.

Children's Issues

A list of academic publications that deal with child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry.

Breaking Bad News

IV. What to Do When You Get There

If the family doesn't know you, identify yourself and ask if you can come in.

Self-Study Unit 4: The First 24 Hours

I. The Scene

In Littleton, Colorado, scene of the worst school shooting in U.S. history, a number of news organizations began suspecting that something was amiss when they noticed heavy communications traffic over police scanners. There were rumors of a shooting, but at first nobody knew the extent of the casualties.

Self-Study Unit 4: The First 24 Hours

IV. Coping Strategies for Victims

The first 24 hours after a traumatic event can be a time of extremely high psychological stress for everyone involved — victims, their families, rescue personnel, medical staff and others. Often left out of this picture of sufferers, however, are the journalists who give witness to tragic situations so that others who are not on the scene have a sense of what happened and what impact it has had (and will continue to have) on the community.

Covering Children & Trauma

I. Interviewing Children

By Ruth Teichroeb

No matter what the topic, different ground rules apply when interviewing children.

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Self-Study Unit 2: Covering Terrorism

Sources and Resources

By Elana Newman and Chris Bull

Sources and resources for Self-Study Unit 2: Covering Terrorism

Self-Study Unit 1: Journalism & Trauma

Sources and Resources

Sources and resources for the trauma and journalism self-study unit.

Breaking Bad News

I. Key Points

The moment when someone is notified of the death of a close family member can be the most important in their lives.