Program Details: Sandy Hook and Beyond

The symposium will be held from 11:00 am - 6:00 pm in the World Room at the Columbia Journalism School (116th Street and Broadway). The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP to Ariel Ritchin at [email protected]. 

Media must register with Eric Sharfstein at [email protected], or 212-854-6164.

Click here to watch all of the symposium panels. Click here to read the Live Blog from the event.

Follow the day's events, and continue the conversation on Twitter at #aftersandyhook.

AGENDA:

11:00 - 11:15am -- Opening Remarks

Bruce Shapiro, Executive Director, Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Emily Bell, Director, Tow Center for Digital Journalism
 


11:15am - 12:30pm -- Breaking News and Trauma: *Video of this panel is now available here.

First responders, reporters, news managers, and community leaders will reflect on news coverage in the immediate aftermath of the shootings at Sandy Hook elementary, how news choices were made, ethical challenges to reporting, press access and areas for improvement.

Jason Carroll, National Correspondent, CNN; Brad Clift, Freelance Photojournalist; Patricia Llodra, First Selectwoman, Newtown, CT; Naomi Starobin, News Director, WSHU Public Radio Fairfield, CT; Lt. J. Paul Vance, Chief Spokesman, Connecticut State Police; Moderator: Bruce Shapiro, Executive Director, Dart Center

12:45 - 1:30pm – Conversation: News and Trauma: Survivors Speak

Bill Leukhardt, Reporter, Hartford Courant and step-father of victim (Lauren Rousseau, teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, CT); Moderator: Bruce Shapiro, Executive Director, Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma

1:45 - 3:00pm -- Social Media and Tragedy

Social media experts and community leaders will discuss the role of social media in news coverage of Sandy Hook, accuracy of information and dissemination of misinformation, evolving standards for use of social media in crisis events, and how the shootings at Sandy Hook differed from other major news events in the virtual realm

Andy Carvin, Social Media Strategist, NPR; Charles Dumais, Principal, Newtown High School; Moderator: Emily Bell, Director, Tow Center for Digital Journalism

3:15 - 4:30pm – Going Deeper: Covering Perpetrators, Guns and Community Trauma

Reporters and clinicians will discuss reporting on perpetrators, guns, community trauma and long-term mental health impacts of traumatic events.

Alaine Griffin, Reporter, Hartford Courant; Matthew Kauffman, Investigative Reporter, Hartford Courant; Charles Herrick, Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Western Connecticut Health Network; Jim MacMillan, Founder, GunCrisis.org; Moderator: Bruce Shapiro, Executive Director, Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

4:35 - 6:00pm -- Responsible Reporting on Aftermath: Where do we go from here?

Reporters, violence prevention advocates and child clinicians will discuss lessons learned from other mass shootings (e.g. Columbine, Virginia Tech), the trajectories for stories on large scale trauma, long-term impacts of trauma on individuals and communities, issues of memorialization, news choices and the role and responsibilities of journalism in traumatic events of large and smaller scale.

Dave Cullen, Journalist and Author, “Columbine”; Kevin Cullen, Columnist, Boston Globe; Candice Kane, Chief Operating Officer, Cure Violence, Chicago; Beth Macy, Reporter, The Roanoke Times; Steven Marans, Professor, Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine; Jacqueline Smith, Managing Editor, News-Times, Danbury, CT; Moderators: Bruce Shapiro, Executive Director, Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma; Emily Bell, Director, Tow Center for Digital Journalism

6:00pm – Closing Remarks