900 Feared Dead in Shipwreck

More than 800 people died on Sunday after a ship crowded with migrants capsized and sank off the coast of Libya, with the majority of the dead apparently trapped in the ship. Only 28 people are known to have survived.

The fatal shipwreck is the Mediterranean’s deadliest migrant disaster of all time, according to a United Nations relief agency, and is only the latest tragedy in Europe’s growing migration crisis. 

As the weather improves, increasing numbers of refugees from Africa and the Middle East have been trying to reach Europe with the help of smugglers, and many do not make it. Humanitarian groups estimated that 1,600 migrants have died at sea this year, compared with 90 during the same period a year ago.

On Monday, European leaders were confronted with calls for a new approach to the surging number of refugees crossing from Africa and the Middle East.

“What happened on Sunday was a game changer,” Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta said at a news conference with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy. “There is a new realization that if Europe doesn’t act as a team, history will judge it very harshly, as it did when it closed its eyes to stories of genocide — horrible stories — not long ago.”

The European Union has proposed doubling the size of its search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean, and European Council president, Donald Tusk, called for a European summit meeting to be held on Thursday to address the issue.

The Dart Center has tips and resources for journalists covering tragedy on this scale below:

• The Dart Center's quick tips, in-depth resources and links to other organizations on "Covering Disasters."
• The Sewol Ferry Disaster: 10 Tips From Korean Reporters
• "Tragedies and Journalists": the Dart Center's comprehensive guide for reporters, editors, photographers and managers on every aspect of reporting tragedy.
• An interview with Irving Redlener, M.D. on the role that news media play in aiding recovery and drawing lessons to better manage future catastrophes.
• Guidance on working with emergency services from Dr. Anne Eyre, specialist in trauma and disaster management.
• "Best Practices in Trauma Reporting," drawn from a decade of Dart Award-winning stories.
• Tip Sheets on how to effectively cover a disaster and self-care amid disaster from 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning editor Joe Hight.
• Scientific consensus, made readable, on the effects of traumatic coverage on journalists, on media consumers in general and on children in particular.
• Dart Centre Asia Pacific's self care tips for news personnel exposed to traumatic events, staff care tips for their managers and editors and reporting tips for dealing with victims of tragedy.
• Reflection and advice from six international reporters who were on the ground during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami -- Yulia Supadmo, Indonesia; Mehul Srivastava, USA; Shahanaaz Habib, Malaysia; Shahidul Alam, Bangladesh; Pia Sarkar, USA; Mona Khanna, USA -- as well as Australian photojournalist Patrick Hamilton and correspondent Kimina Lyall.
• The International Center for Journalists's two-part guide on Disaster and Crisis Coverage and Journalism and Trauma. 
• Recovery from Unnatural Death: A guide by psychiatrist Ted Rynearson for friends and family of someone who has died violently or suddenly.
• In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings, psychologist and Dart Center Research Director, Elana Newman, compiled tips on how journalists leave a tragedy.
• Dart Center Executive Director Bruce Shapiro spoke in Melbourne, Australia about reckoning with the aftermath of disaster.
• How to deal with people caught up in tragic events.
• Tips for managers and editors to help them prepare and support reporters in the field.