Resources for Blog Posts

After two packed days at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies conference, I was exhausted, even though I didn't make it the conference's liveliest evening session (see picture). But between meetings with Dart Center and Dart Society leaders on the third and final day, I still managed to sit in on several significant panels, all speaking directly to the interface between journalists and the traumatic human experiences they cover ...

After my last post, at the end of my first day at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies' annual conference, the ISTSS gave out their annual awards. Of particular note: the 2008 Frank Ochberg Award for Media and Trauma Study was given to the Dart Center's founding director, Roger Simpson, for his groundbreaking research work ...

Once a year, you can find the world's trauma experts, the Dart Center's staff and the journalists who won Dart's annual Ochberg Fellowships in one place: the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. This year the place is Chicago, and while the fellows are bonding in their fourth day of seminars, I'm wandering in and out of panels learning about the cutting edge of trauma research from psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, counselors, administrators, advocates, journalists, and even clergy. Today through Sunday, I'll be blogging their nuggets of wisdom here.

n clinical news, a study published in Archives of General Psychiatry found Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in 70% of those with implanted cardioverter-defibrillators, while a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry found adolescents with psychotic symptoms were more likely to be bullies as well as victims of bullying and to have been exposed to domestic violence. Iraqis in Iraq were reported to be at a much lower risk for PTSD than Iraqis who emigrate. A new VA report found 15% of veterans have experienced sexual trauma. A study of mice suggested that a shot of cortisol after a stressful event could prevent traumatization ...

One in four homeless people in the United States are veterans. Nearly half of those homeless veterans have a diagnosable mental illness.

"This isn't a story about the dead. Or about the world's politicians who stood by and did nothing. This is the story of the most vulnerable of the genocide. Women who were the victims of the most brutal acts of a dark war."

33 years ago today, five journalists working for Australian TV networks were killed by Indonesian forces in East Timor, their bodies incinerated and interred at a cemetery in Jakarta. Details about the deaths of Gary Cunningham, Brian Peters, Malcolm Rennie, Greg Shackleton and Tony Stewart were shrouded in mystery, but the fact of their deaths has made them a potent symbol of the threats journalists face worldwide. Dart Centre Australasia joins the Prime Minister of Australia and a 2007 coroner's inquest in calling for all parties to respect the wishes of the families of the "Balibo Five" who call for repatriating their relatives' remains.

"Photojournalists in the mould of [Robert] Capa or Philip Jones Griffiths can no longer compete with instantaneous TV...photojournalists must find a new language."

The quote comes from a review of fine art exhibitions in last week's Times of London, but it's a variation on an argument we've heard since the digital camera was invented: now that everyone can take photographs, who needs photographers?

Two events this week seemed to propose two different answers ...

"Ten Years Later, Shepard Case Haunts Reporters." That was the headline of an NPR story this weekend, commemorating the 10th anniversary of gay college student Matthew Shepard's brutal murder with stories from local journalists who reported it. Their words make plain the importance of resources and support for journalists thrust into reporting a communal tragedy.

XDRTB.Org
Renowned photojournalist James Nachtwey's interactive project to raise awareness of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDRTB), the culmination of an 18-month investigation.

The Last Tour
A lengthy portrait of decorated marine Travis Twiggs' struggle with PTSD, ending in murder-suicide at the Grand Canyon.

Study: Toddlers Get Post-Traumatic Stress
A study of 114 younger children exposed to road traffic accidents found one in 10 suffered continued anxiety after the event ...