Dart Centre Asia Pacific Managing Director Cait McMahon conducts a post-tsunami discussion with staff from a Samoan television station in 2009.
Our training is guided by the following values and approaches:
Evidence-based trauma awareness practices and professional journalism standards that are rooted in the day-to-day reality of newsrooms; trauma awareness embedded in ethical and craft approaches to trauma affected individuals, families and communities.
Awareness of the impact of trauma on journalists and newsrooms, mitigated by simple approaches to peer support and management tactics for dealing with trauma exposure. Training covers what to expect; how to monitor how staff are holding up; building resilience in the face of undertaking very difficult stories; how to care for staff and mitigate the impact that traumatic events they cover could have on them directly.
Newsroom planning and protocols before, during and after traumatic events.
Language to talk about trauma; training so newsroom managers and staff can be resources to one another.
Clients and partners include: ABC (Australia), BBC (UK), Bournemouth University Media School (UK), Buzzfeed (USA), Canadian Forum on Journalism and Trauma (Canada), Center for Global Studies, Henry M. Jackson School, University of Washington (USA), Committee to Protect Journalists (USA), Digital First Media (USA), DW-AKADEMIE (Germany), Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (Colombia), Frontline Club (UK), Global Investigative Journalism Network (USA), Human Rights Watch (USA), Institute for War and Peace Reporting (UK), International News Safety Institute (UK), International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (USA), Investigative Reporters and Editors (USA), Los Angeles Times (USA), National Public Radio (USA), National Union of Journalists - Philippines, Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University (USA), Orlando Sentinel (USA), Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (USA), Rory Peck Trust (UK), Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (USA), Russian Union of Journalists (Russia), Swinburne University of Technology (Australia), Yayasan Pulih (Indonesia), among others.
If you are interested in setting up a training for your newsroom or organization, contact [email protected].
Amy McQuire reflects on a Dart Centre Asia Pacific retreat focussed on Indigenous trauma reporting, and explains why she believes Aboriginal journalists need to embrace an advocate's role.
Be human first. Do as much pre-reporting as possible. Find out what questions the child has been asking. When possible, immerse. Make them comfortable. Leave them in a good place. Verify what they’ve told you. And don’t underestimate them.