Dart Research
The Dart Center’s research unit, based at the University of Tulsa Department of Psychology, has undertaken pioneering peer-reviewed studies on newsrooms and traumatic stress, and encourages scientific and scholarly inquiry into the impact of news coverage of traumatic events.
Led by Dart Research Director Elana Newman, the University of Tulsa team manages the definitive bibliographic database of scholarly articles on the intersection of journalism and trauma.
Research priorities include:
- Occupational risk and stress experienced by journalists across all beats and mediums;
- Journalism craft choices and their impact on story subjects, news consumers and journalists themselves;
- PTSD news coverage and its effects on public opinion and public health;
- How news is framed, and its influence on consumers’ knowledge, perceptions and opinions;
- Factors that promote journalist resiliency and well-being.
More from the Research Center
2021 Dart Awards: Reporting Tips from the Honorees
October 12, 2021On September 30th, the 2021 Dart Awards honorees joined us for three roundtable conversations to discuss their craft, and approach to writing and reporting complex stories.
How Can Indigenous Reporters Care for Themselves While Covering Trauma — and How Can Their Newsrooms Help?
July 14, 2021In the last months, the remains of over a thousand people, including at least hundreds of Indigenous children, have been discovered on the properties of former residential schools in British Columbia and Saskatchewan. These discoveries have brought to the fore — for now — a subject that has long remained at the margins of mainstream media coverage in the United States: the genocide of millions of Indigenous people by colonizers.
Dart Center Style Guide for Trauma-Informed Journalism
June 22, 2021 by Isobel ThompsonThis Dart Center style guide is designed as a quick, authoritative reference for reporters, editors and producers working on tight deadlines. It includes brief evidence-informed guidance on news choices, language usage and ethics in reporting on the impact of trauma on individuals, families and communities; recommendations for appropriate use of relevant psychological and scientific terminology; and special considerations when reporting on consequential trauma-laden issues such as racism and sexual violence.
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