A former reporter wants to end traumatizing coverage for survivors and journalists alike

It is the better question, but when it comes to journalism there are a lot of smart, sensible folks here, and they latched on to the tell in the story - a situation where the journalism trauma expert bemoaned her situation in a way she could have easily controlled.

 

Struck me less as a 'tell' and more of an origin story.

Having done the things expected of us - in fact demanded of us by the boss - she eventually left journalism and started doing this:

https://www.journalcswb.ca/index.php/cswb/article/view/218/549

 

As everyone newsroom should be (but will probably never be again).

Newsroom noise (and chaos) is what makes journalism go 'round.

 

Yeah, I worked in some sort of a newsroom environment for 25 years and in 2016 became my own boss and now work from home. So I went from hustle and bustle ... to silence. When the pandemic hit, my wife got moved to working from home so we have been sharing "office space" (aka, our spare bedroom which has our old dining room table as a desk) for 2-plus years now. I got so used to a quiet working environment that when she has a conference call with work, I can't focus on many tasks I could pound out in minutes while working in a busy newsroom and have to go sit at the kitchen island bar to work instead.
It's a jarring difference.

 

I think some of the responses are missing the point, which is the lack of training many journalists have in interviewing people dealing with some form of trauma. I know I had no training or help in that area. That can lead to a reporter screwing things up for themselves and making the trauma worse for the person being interviewed.

 

This is an excellent point.

It was true 26-plus years ago, when I was told to knock on doors and talk to neighbors in the suburban Chicago area where the Unabomber grew up. It’s especially true now, when newsrooms have been stripped of most veterans who might offer some advice or teaching.

 

This goes to a larger point, really. We're hollowed out as an industry, and we always relied on the grizzled veteran showing the cops reporter or the school board reporter or whoever the ropes. In fairness, sometimes you need to make your mistakes to figure out how not to do the job, but we're lacking the safety nets we leaned on for so long. I'm not sure how effective it is for kids to hear these things in a college classroom vs. just BSing with a veteran reporter over a smoke or a couple beers.

 

I'm not even saying it is something that should be taught in college classes, though that would definitely make sense. Newspapers should train their employees, but they don't. That would cost money.

 

I would think part of it is the long-time glorification* of the grizzled, hard-charging reporter who gets "the story" (which has to have the quotes from the grieving!) all other considerations be damned. I knew a few of those in my day (their names have come up 'round here, even) and they were widely admired. I also knew pretty early on I wasn't cut out of that cloth.


*Which isn't quite the right word but I can't think of a better one.

 

Not everyone is cut from that cloth. Some can knock on doors, ask the questions, get the story. Others can't even knock on the doors, much less ask the questions, and they write about other things.

Life ain't all roses and fun.