Best practices of trauma-informed journalism
The Trauma Aware Journalism Project
“Trauma-informed journalism” is a relatively new concept. It addresses understanding trauma from several viewpoints, from victims, survivors and eyewitnesses, to journalists who cover these stories. The Trauma Aware Journalism Project (TAJ) includes free “micro-learning” videos, study guides, and advice from experts and seasoned journalists.
Let’s talk about… Trauma Aware Journalism
Students engage with journalism, short films, local interviews, and self reflection to expand their definitions of advocacy, explore the causes and impacts of trauma, and ultimately compose a trauma-informed recipe book that will offer their own suggested guidelines for mitigating trauma. They also reflect on what self-advocacy can look like while in the midst of traumatic circumstances, interact with resources such as film shorts, documentaries and articles related to self advocacy and resilience and apply their analyses of these resources to the creation of a recipe book with tips for healing in their communities in this unit created by Teacher Fellow Karen Sojourner.
Students will make connections between grief, trauma, storytelling, and advocacy before creating "trauma-informed recipe books" that offer their own suggested guidelines to mitigating trauma.
The debate
At its core, trauma-informed leadership recognizes and respects human experiences. Post-pandemic news organizations require us to re-order our skillset, moving “soft” skills to the top. While the soft skills of leadership are hard, the American Press Institute believes these skills will help retain critical perspectives and pivotal voices. In a workshop — led by Sam Ragland, API’s vice president of journalism programs — they invited caring, coaching and connecting to the table in a free session held May 1.
The research
You can keep yourself and your sources safe through some best practices of trauma-informed journalism offered by the Donald W. Reynolds Institute (RJI).
The resources
How do you write about traumatic situations without retraumatizing those involved? Do you know what does “retraumatizing” mean? That’s a really inappropriate use of “PTSD”, as you can learn in the Dart Center Style Guide for Trauma-Informed Journalism for journalists. The Dart Center has debuted its Trauma Aware Journalism: A News Industry Toolkit, an online resource for both newsrooms and journalists that was put together in partnership with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma. This digital toolkit is an educational project by the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma; the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC/Radio-Canada); and the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma which offers journalists comprehensive learning resources to equip themselves with the knowledge, skills and awareness to effectively and ethically report on trauma.