Join us for a series of online conversations about the challenges of reporting amid the coronavirus pandemic. Led by Bruce Shapiro, we’ll take quick, deep dives with authoritative experts, news innovators and journalistic colleagues navigating the crisis at the local, regional and global level - sharing lessons learned, common struggles and innovative approaches. Co-sponsored by CJR.
American citizens wave from a bus as they leave the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship at Daikoku Pier to be repatriated to the United States on February 17, 2020 in Yokohama, Japan.
More than threee million people have been infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), fueling a worldwide pandemic. As of this writing, at least 200,000 people have died. As the numbers continue to rise, we have assembled resources for journalists on covering disaster and epidemic, interviewing victims and survivors, and working with colleagues exposed to traumatic events in English and Chinese.
A man walks his dog past a homeless man sleeping under a message painted on a boarded up shop in San Francisco on April, 1, 2020.
Local journalists have a tough but vital role in reporting on the recovery from this unprecedented trauma, often doing so amid staff cuts and furloughs, while balancing family needs and the health risks that come with on-the-ground reporting. Like all recoveries, this one won’t be a straight line. It will be messy. The aftermath should be conveyed through the experiences of individuals as much as possible, rather than only through the lens of systems and officials.
The 2020 Dart Awards went to The Plain Dealer for "Case Closed" and to The New York Times Magazine for "How Does the Human Soul Survive Atrocity?" Honorable mentions went to The Missoulian, NPR News, and ProPublica Illinois in collaboration with the Chicago Tribune. "This year’s Dart Award honorees, announced amid a global pandemic, demonstrate with stunning relevance the irreplaceable power of in-depth reporting to give voice to survivors, to make vivid the impact of trauma and to hold abusers of power to account,” said Bruce Shapiro.
Top, L to R: Marcela Gaviria, June Cross, Azmat Khan; Middle, L to R: Sarah Stillman, Christiane Amanpour, May Jeong; Bottom, L to R: Jina Moore, Judith Matloff, Alexis Okeowo.
For journalists on every beat, managing personal boundaries and safety can pose difficult choices and challenges. Women journalists in particular contend with unwanted presumptions, sexual harassment and the threat of violence. The Dart Center asked nine leading women in journalism to talk about the impact of these challenges on their work, and to reflect on their own best practices. This video is the result.
Firefighters struggling against the strong wind in an effort to secure nearby houses from bushfires near the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales on December 31, 2019.
As the human, environmental and economic toll of Australia's devastating wildfires continues to mount, we have assembled resources for journalists on covering disaster and recovery, interviewing victims and survivors, and working with colleagues exposed to traumatic events.
The Dart community is mourning the loss of Alex Duval Smith, a Dart Center Ochberg Fellow, who died in Paris on Saturday of a sudden pulmonary infection. All those who had the good fortune to know Alex will remember her as a brave, insightful and exceptionally empathic reporter, and as a wonderful mentor who nurtured young journalists across the countries she reported from.
In September, the Dart Center brought together 28 journalists from 18 countries at the Columbia Journalism School for a four-day reporting institute on children and the international refugee crisis. Reporting resources, including expert briefing materials, suggested readings, tip sheets and full conference video are now available here.
What impact does close and routine contact with vulnerable people have on filmmakers? And do TV companies equip their employees with the skills and support that working with challenging material and vulnerable people requires? In a new report supported by Wellcome – the first of its kind – the Dart Centre has sought to answer these questions by laying out the factors and situations that generate occupational distress in the UK’s factual TV sector. Read the full report here.
