A mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut left 28 people dead, including 20 children. See the Dart Center's resources for journalists covering this tragedy.
Listening, language and realistic expectations all play a role in the difficult task of covering human rights abuses.
Five years after Hurricane Katrina, the Gulf Coast faces another disaster–the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. A staff writer for The New Orleans Times-Picayune reflects on how lessons from the storm shape coverage of the latest crisis.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is different from a war or an earthquake, but the traumatic impact is just as real. The challenge to journalists is to report the slow-motion disaster while seeking stories of resilience and possible recovery.
I got into Iran on a tourist visa to make a documentary about some human rights issues there. It was a difficult job because we had to set up clandestine interviews with activists, and I knew how risky this could be not just for myself as the filmmaker, but also those who took part in it.
Nearly every journalist in the course of their career will interview people who have experienced significant trauma. But how many receive any training for the task? This article describes how role-playing traumatic incidents might give student journalists valuable insight and hone crucial interviewing skills.
The essential text for journalists seeking to report sensitively and responsibly on traumatic events, interweaving practical guidance with real-world examples.
It was going to be a big story, my journalist told me. In fact, it was going to be huge—my story had all the right elements for the ultimate tale of ‘triumph over tragedy’.
It’s near deadline. A story about a tragic killing comes across my desk and it’s my job to get comments from the family. I make the dreaded call and gently ask for reaction to the news — only to learn that the family doesn’t yet know. What now?
When I walked out the door of The Jonesboro Sun news room shortly after 1 p.m. on March 24, 1998, I thought I was about as prepared as a reporter could be in a minute's notice.