Tips & Tools

Children and Trauma

Children are not miniature adults, and they deserve special consideration when they end up in the news. Yet few journalists have experience interviewing children for routine stories, let alone when tragedy hits. This page brings together wisdom, examples and interdisciplinary resources to aid and inform those concerned with how children involved in traumatic events are covered in the media.

Dart Resources

  • Children and Media Coverage of Trauma

    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.

  • Dart Award Winner

    For Their Own Good

    This six-part series reveals a century of abuse at Florida's oldest reform school in a haunting narrative. Originally published by the St. Petersburg Times between April and December, 2009, it is a winner of the 2010 Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma.

  • Exemplary Journalism

    A Family Deployment

    Soldiers don't go into a war zone alone: their families share the experience. A Minnesota Public Radio reporter shares her story and explains the reporting behind it.

  • Event Video

    The Craft of Trauma Journalism

    Winners of the 2009 Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma discuss journalistic craft and answer questions in a panel discussion at Columbia University.

  • In Depth

    Covering Teen Suicide

    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.

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Outside Resources

Publications for Topic