Mark H. Massé

Although war correspondents, crime reporters, and those drawn to covering conflict and crisis may be described as adrenaline junkies, adventure seekers, or a “different breed,” journalists are not detached from scenes of terror, grief, or horror no matter how calm or collected they may appear on
screen. No matter how efficiently they complete their stories and produce their images to meet deadlines. Journalists, like other people, have varying emotional thresholds when it comes to confronting trauma. Read More 

First anniversary of the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma's Dart Research Database, an extensive online compendium (bibliography and website) featuring “interdisciplinary scholarship on journalism and trauma in a single location, grouped in a single set of searchable categories.” http://dartcenter.org/content/new-tool-debuts-for-trauma-research

As founding director of the International News Safety Institute (INSI), Rodney Pinder is committed to protecting journalists worldwide. He is particularly concerned with the safety and welfare of local news media workers (e.g., freelancers, stringers, fixers) in developing nations where journalists “operate under a blanket of fear”— often targeted because their reporting threatens powerful interests. “In many countries, a free press is endangered,” Pinder says, noting how the majority of journalist fatalities are not international reporters and camera people killed covering war but local journalists trying to investigate crime and corruption who are murdered in their own homeland. Read More 

Trauma journalist Scott North encourages young reporters to see journalism as a craft that takes time, experience and effort to develop. “Much of what we know about good trauma reporting comes from people having made mistakes,” he says, alluding to his journey and apprenticeship as a community journalist. “Learn from those and the ones you inevitably will make on your own.” Read More 

Like many trauma journalists, Judith Matloff had “absolutely no desire to cover violence” when she began working in 1981 with a degree from Harvard in Latin American Studies. She was interested in politics and fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. Matloff was first a general reporter for UPI in Mexico City, editing stories from across Central America. By the early 1990s, she was a veteran correspondent for Reuters, having reported across Europe and Southern Africa. Her facility with Portuguese led to postings in Angola and Mozambique during periods of intense violence. In her career, Matloff spent years in dangerous assignments across Africa and Eastern Europe. Read More 

The harshest criticism from community residents affected by tragedy (e.g., Littleton, CO; Lancaster, PA; Blacksburg, VA) is often reserved for national news media. Major complaints: 1) mistakes, misinformation, and error-filled reporting; 2) arrogant, patronizing, insensitive attitude of reporters; 3) relentless media coverage, which can re-traumatize children and their families, arguably driven not by genuine news value but by the quest for circulation and ratings. Read More 

Although accounts of journalists covering conflict, tragedy, or trauma date back centuries, social scientific research examining these issues is a recent phenomenon. One of the earliest such studies in the 1994 American Journal of Psychiatry concerned the stressful psychological reactions of
15 journalists who had witnessed an execution of a man found guilty of the murder of two 16-year-old boys. The results indicated that “merely witnessing violence may be sufficient to promote the development of dissociative, anxiety, and other symptoms, even in the absence of physical risk.” Read More 

In 2009, journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were imprisoned for almost five months in North Korea for entering the country illegally. Ling spoke at Ball State Univ. on Oct. 12 about her experiences. In late March 2003, just days before the US invasion of Iraq, Molly Bingham was working as a freelance photojournalist when she and three other Western journalists were arrested by Saddam Hussein’s security forces and taken to the infamous Abu Ghraib prison, where she feared she would be tortured, raped, and/or killed. She spent eight “terrifying” days as a prisoner, interrogated and accused of being a US spy. Weeks after her release, she had recurring fear and anxiety. She began journaling about her imprisonment. Such an articulation process (writing) is a “classic treatment for PTSD— to begin to ‘own’ your narrative of a harrowing experience.” Read More 

The BBC and other international news media use a military model for post-traumatic treatment. The goal is to offer debriefing and support services that enable the journalist to recover and return to work. The Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) program is based on peer-group risk assessment and uses cognitive behavioral therapy. Research has shown this program is effective in identifying at-risk personnel and providing early intervention. Read More 

Former TV reporter-turned academic, Gretchen Dworznik studied coping mechanisms of broadcast journalists. The Ashland University (Ohio) assistant professor employed psychological methods to examine the emotional effects of repeated exposure to fatal auto accidents, murders, kidnappings, and other violent crimes. Instead of a survey, Dworznik used journalists' personal narratives about their experiences to reflect how they adapted to their stressful work and found constructive meaning in their efforts. Read More