Mata’afa Kene Lesa woke up in heaven Sept. 19 and found himself in hell. When a tsunami struck Upolu, one of Western Samoa’s two main islands, Lesa – the editor of Samoa Observer – was one of the first local journalists to respond, racing to the affected area to be met by scenes of death and devastation.
Two more journalists have died in Syria: reporter Marie Colvin of London's Sunday Times and French photographer Rémi Ochlik. Colvin's last report from Homs was a BBC interview the day before she was killed. "I counted 14 shells… I watched a little baby die today. Absolutely horrific. No one here can understand how the international community can let this happen."
How does childhood adversity shape adult lives? And how can we tell better stories about it?
In a TedX talk at the University of Tulsa, Dart Research Director Elana Newman offered perspective on the important role journalists can play in saving lives during a tragedy, mitigating violence and helping to restore justice.
Yesteday's issue of The Australian carries the headline: "Crash Course in Dealing with Trauma." It's the story of journalist Mike Walter, an accidental firsthand witness to the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.
"We're all meaning-hungry creatures. We're permanent citizens of the republic of trauma." Those words were spoken by Pete Hamill, among 110 news professionals, artists, researchers and scholars who gathered in February 2009 at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University to explore how traumatic events challenge journalists' storytelling.
In a recent TedX talk at the University of Tulsa, Dart Research Director Elana Newman offers perspective on the important role journalists can play in saving lives during a tragedy, mitigating violence and helping to restore justice.
Following the 2011 Utoya shooting in Norway, journalist and researcher Trond Idås teamed with researcher Klas Backholm, and found that journalists who felt that their reporting may have caused harm were at higher risk for PTSD.
A report on Reuters.com sheds light on how stressful – and dangerous – the act of newsgathering has become. And what news organizations need to do about it.