Coverage of trauma and extreme human distress is a core part of journalism. These tips are for managers and editors to help them prepare and support the reporters who do this difficult and important work.
Tips on covering the swine-flu outbreak from a reporter with two decades' experience with health issues ranging from the AIDS epidemic to oyster-related food poisoning.
Most journalists face an inevitability in their careers: They must cover a tragedy and interview people who are pinned against a wall of grief. The wall blocks the victims from seeing that their lives may improve tomorrow. They only see who's in front of them and feel the pain of that moment.
Young journalists will often encounter violence among their first reporting experiences. The effects of catastrophe and cruelty are newsworthy, particularly when victims are numerous, are famous or are symbolic of something that we all relate to and hold dear: a child killed in a schoolroom; a nurse held hostage in a hospital.
Have you ever been first to arrive at the scene of a tragedy? Have you ever sent a reporter or photographer to a disaster scene without thinking through the consequences?
Hight, managing editor of The Oklahoman, runs down how a newsroom can prepare to cover unexpected disasters.
An overview of reporting trends in crime news, comparison with actual crime rates and an analysis of how coverage affects public perception of criminal activity.
Whether clinicians like it or not, children and families affected by trauma are routinely covered by the media. When that happens, clinicians often face difficult choices.
Note: Available as PDF download only.
An overview of how news stories, traumatic and otherwise, are "framed," finding a general absence of context and recommending avenues for future research.
An overview of current scholarship regarding how different, contextual approaches to reporting news influence consumers’ knowledge, perceptions and opinions, and the implications for researchers and for journalists.