Covering Hurricanes: Resources for Journalists
The National Hurricane Center has warned of the danger of life-threatening storm surges along hundreds of miles of the United States southeast coast in the coming days. Please consult our tips and resources on covering disaster and recovery, interviewing victims and survivors, and working with reporters exposed to traumatic events.
After tearing through the Bahamas earlier this week, Hurricane Dorian and its 105 m.p.h. winds are about 115 miles northeast of Jacksonville, Florida, according to The National Hurricane Center. The Center has warned of the danger of “life-threatening” storm surges along hundreds of miles of the United States southeast coast in the coming days.
Here's the updated #Dorian storm surge forecast from the 11 am advisory. The water could reach the following heights above ground somewhere in the indicated areas if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide. For more details see https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/ThNnhnb3wo
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 4, 2019
Please consult our tips and resources on covering disaster and recovery, interviewing victims and survivors, and working with reporters exposed to traumatic events:
- The Dart Center's quick tips, in-depth resources and links to other organizations on "Covering Disasters."
- John Pope's tips on "Covering hurricanes." Keep track of the storm using the National Hurricane Center & Weather Underground.
- "Tragedies & Journalists": the Dart Center's comprehensive guide for reporters, editors, photographers and managers on every aspect of reporting tragedy.
- A virtual issue on hurricane-related trauma from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
- 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 mental health issues and how they evolve in regions devastated by natural disasters, from psychiatrist Alexander McFarlane.
- Tips for working with traumatic imagery.
- Guidance on working with emergency services from Dr. Anne Eyre, specialist in trauma and disaster management.
- Guidance on reporting natural disasters from Manoucheka Celeste, Haitian-born journalist and media scholar.
- "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 and on media consumers.
- 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.
- Transcript and individual reports from a Frontline Club discussion of tsunami coverage, with former Dart Centre Europe Director Mark Brayne, BBC developing world correspondent David Loyn and clinical psychologist Bill Yule.
- The International Center for Journalists's two-part guide on Disaster and Crisis Coverage and Journalism and Trauma.
- Natural Disaster resources assembled by Google, including Google's person-finder.
- Recovery from Unnatural Death: A guide by psychiatrist Ted Rynearson for friends and family of someone who has died violently or suddenly.
- Dart Center Executive Director Bruce Shapiro spoke in Melbourne, Australia about reckoning with the aftermath of disaster.
- The Covering Recovery Project, a joint initiative of the Dart Center and the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, hosted a colloquium focused on innovations in coverage and lessons learned from recent disasters. Event video is available here.
Strategies for investigating in the aftermath of disasters featuring journalists Bruce Shapiro, Jason Berry, Rick Young, Justin Elliott and Laura Sullivan.
- 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.