Child Clinicians & the Media

If caretakers decide to talk with journalists:

Create a safe setting to meet with journalists. Families can pick a place and a time that makes them feel comfortable if they decide to meet with reporters—whether that is home, a business office or at the journalist’s office.

Be sure that caretakers are comfortable with having their identity or identifying information revealed. If there are concerns, steps should be taken to preserve the anonymity or privacy of those being interviewed.

Consider if it is appropriate for family members to provide journalists with official documents about the case. Due to confidentiality shields, journalists may not otherwise have access to complete information about the story.

Protecting privacy:

Polly F., whose children were sexually assaulted, insisted that reporters meet her at home when her children were at school so no opportunity for her children to be photographed or interviewed would occur. In fact, as a condition to meeting with photographers or visual broadcasters, she insisted that personal photographs of her family in the background of a shot be blurred.

Families who are concerned about such privacy issues may choose to temporarily remove such mementos from the premises. The journalist’s first impulse will be to do an interview in the family home; consider asking to meet at the reporter’s office or in a neutral place.

Should children talk to the media?

This is a difficult question, and there are no easy answers. Research has not been systematically conducted to answer this question.

In some cases, families report that talking with the media is a positive experience for a child or teenager, resulting in increased self-confidence and support from the community.

In other cases, families report that it led to social difficulties for the child and family.

The decision to talk with the media needs to made on a case-by-case basis. Families need to consider the child’s developmental age, the child’s willingness, effects it could have on any legal or criminal proceedings, the particular journalist and news outlet, and the potential advantages and disadvantages of talking to the media.

Children and families should feel in control of the process.

Advise guardians to talk with a child and understand what he or she wants. Given that traumatic events can make a child or teenager feel powerless, offering children some role in decision-making can be helpful.

In some cases, the child may want to speak with the media, but the child’s guardian may be concerned. The child should be informed that adults will make the final decision and that even though it is not the same as the child’s choice, parents will carefully consider the child’s opinion in the decision.

If the family decides a child or teenager should participate:

  • Discuss the process with the child or teenager. Assure the child or teenager that there are no wrong answers. Also encourage the child or teenager to say no to any question that he/she does not want to answer. It may be helpful to role-play ways to set limits.
  • Set ground rules with the journalist.
  • Let the journalist know about topics or details that are especially difficult for the child.
  • Guardians can let the reporter know that if the child becomes upset or distressed as a result of the interview, the interview may have to be stopped—if possible, let the child make or participate in that decision.
  • If appropriate, set a time limit in advance for the interview.
  • Parents should establish ground rules for a journalist’s use of any images, documents or other material not generally available to the public, particularly photos owned by the family or taken in a private place. Most journalists respect the need to seek permission from parents or guardians before using such documents and images.
  • Anticipate ways to make the interview a comfortable experience:
    • Typically, caregivers should be present and available during an interview with a journalist.
    • The family may want to have a counselor or other supportive adult present.
    • A child’s sibling or pet may also offer comfort to a child.
    • If possible, the interview should be conducted in a comfortable, nonthreatening setting.

Have a follow-up plan for families.

  • Strategize how caregivers will support the child or teenager immediately after an interview.
  • Plan to watch or read the story with the child, provide support and answer any questions or concerns.
  • Ask the journalist for contact information in case you have any follow-up questions, concerns or clarifications.
  • Be prepared to discuss how the final media piece comes out with your child. Often it can be short, or edited in ways that do not always reflect your experience. In some cases, extensive footage may not even be used or printed in the final story.

If the media reports information inaccurately, you may ask for a retraction or correction. Contact the reporter and a senior editor as soon as possible. Be certain that the error was not yours. News organizations are generally willing to correct their mistakes, and it helps if your approach is cordial rather than adversarial.

Whether families agree to an interview or not, they should be prepared for the possibility that the media will contact other people—including neighbors, co-workers, teachers, members of the religious community, extended family and friends.

A story may be told with or without the family’s input. Prepare your family for these reactions and choices about how to respond.

How to help a family approach the media:

In many cases, families may want to consider approaching the media to inform the public about a traumatic event confronting their family. Families may believe it will bring resources to bear on the situation, raise awareness about an important issue, help change policy and/or communicate with the community. Every situation is different, but this is a choice all families can make.

To approach the media, families can:

  1. Contact a news director.
  2. Call upon a journalist with a respected track record.
  3. Contact a local news tip hotline.

How can clinicians help families who want to contact the media?

  • Help them first think through their decision and analyze the risks and benefits of contact with the media (especially the potential impact it may have on the children involved).
  • Understand ahead of time how media in their region cover issues.
  • Help the families generate a list of pros and cons (including legal considerations, safety, short- and long-term social ramifications).
  • Provide the family with resources about how to talk to the media.
  • Offer to provide support to the child and family or be present during and after the interview.
  • Help the family make a follow-up plan to cope with media responses and the public’s response to any media coverage.

When families find themselves in the news:

Often families and children find themselves in the media spotlight because someone in the family has endured injury or died because of a traumatic event. How can clinicians help families more effectively work with the media?

In the first meetings with a family following a traumatic event, clinicians should routinely ask if family members are aware of or have seen coverage about this event, especially if it is a public event. This is clinically important to know, since:

  • News may serve as a traumatic reminder intensifying symptoms.
  • Interactions with the media can serve either as a positive coping response or as a stressor to the family.

    For example: In a tragedy involving more than one child, children or teenagers who are singled out to represent the event (and those not selected) may have reactions. (Libow,1992). Clinicians should be aware that this may be an area needing clinical attention.
  • Clinicians can offer secondary materials that might provide important insight into the event, and establish a broader context for issues surrounding the event.

Issues to discuss with the family:

  • Do you need to identify people in your environment to protect your family from unwanted media attention?
  • If a child will be interviewed, is he or she developmentally mature enough to participate?
  • Should someone in the family be appointed the primary media contact?
  • Do family members have a realistic sense of what media coverage will and will not accomplish?

If families are involved in the media, remind them that clinicians and doctors cannot talk to the media about specifics of the situation unless signed releases exist.

  • Discuss the parameters of confidentiality and the need for informed consent for the health providers to talk to the media.
  • Discuss the potential benefits and costs for the family if the clinician or agency discusses the case.

Children may not understand the media’s role and presence at public events. Encourage children to explain what they understand and their reactions to this.

Prepare families to respond to community members who saw the news. For example, it may be helpful to remind them they can simply say, “Thank you for your concern and good wishes.”