NUJU Webinar Series: Session 1 - Covering Death in the Community 

Telling the hardest stories: innovation in trauma-informed reporting

The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, in collaboration with the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, announces an essential professional development opportunity for Ukrainian journalists covering conflict and tragedy.

This specialized webinar series brings together seasoned reporters and expert trainers from the Dart Center's global network to share invaluable insights drawn from their extensive experience in conflict zones and crisis reporting. Through examining diverse international case studies, participants will discover innovative approaches to enhance their reporting practices while maintaining both professional effectiveness and personal resilience.

The program addresses critical aspects of trauma-informed journalism, including such key focus areas:

• Maintaining fresh and focused reporting in prolonged crisis situations

• Developing sensitive approaches to survivor and witness interviews, with special attention to children

• Implementing strategies for newsroom managers to prevent emotional burnout

• Crafting stories that honor the deceased while serving community needs

These sessions will take place on February 6, 19, and 26, 2025, providing Ukrainian journalists with advanced methodologies and practical insights that can be immediately implemented in their critical work documenting current events.

Participation is free.
Languages: English, Ukrainian (simultaneous translation)

Session 1: Covering death in the community 

Thursday, February 6. 

Local journalists in Ukrainian are covering loss and bereavement on a daily basis. In this environment, reporters confront two essential questions: How can they provide coverage that truly honors the deceased, and how can they document an ongoing stream of casualties in a way that serves their communities—particularly when audiences already feel overwhelmed by the constant flow of distressing news?

In this webinar, three journalists from the Dart Centre’s international network describe what they have found helpful when covering prolonged, mass casualty situations. They will share some practical ideas on interviewing and story selection and discuss the craft approach they take to writing stories which have such a major impact on the communities that they live and work in. 

The speakers: 

Patricia Evangelista is a trauma journalist and former investigative reporter for the Philippine news company Rappler. Her debut book, Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country, an account of the killings during the Philippine drug war declared by President Rodrigo Duterte, was hailed as “a journalistic masterpiece” (The New Yorker) and was TIME’s #1 Nonfiction Book of the Year.  

For more information: https://www.patriciaevangelista.com/about 

Angelina Fusco spent 30 years as a journalist in the newsroom of BBC Northern Ireland, half of that time as Editor of Television News. She led teams covering a conflict that divided communities and generated world headlines, ranging from the Omagh bombing to IRA and Loyalist ceasefires, and the Good Friday agreement - stories that required sensitivity and finely-tuned editorial judgment. Angelina is the  former Chair of Dart Centre Europe and has worked as a senior trainer at the BBC College of Journalism. 

For more information: https://dartcenter.org/bio/angelina-fusco 

John Woodrow Cox is an enterprise reporter at The Washington Post and the author of Children Under Fire: An American Crisis. In 2018, his series about the impact of gun violence on children in America was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing. He was also part of the team of Post journalists awarded the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for public service for coverage of the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.

For more information: http://www.johnwoodrowcox.com/about  

Registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1rATs0bOUUnfREY5iVPHDbhW_k-faLL5ElP8Uzs--WZw/edit.