Lesson 09: Trauma
Oftentimes, news organizations turn their attention to other countries when those countries are in extreme crisis (and therefore, headline “worthy”). The people living in these moments are often experiencing trauma. What does this mean for how we practice journalism? How do we report without causing added harm? What resources exist? How do we recognize and care for our own trauma as witnesses to distressing events?
We will be joined in the second half of the class by Bruce Shapiro, executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.
Assignments
Reading assignment:
- Johanna E. Foster and Sherizaan Minwalla, “Voices of Yazidi women: Perceptions of journalistic practices in the reporting on ISIS sexual violence,” in Women’s Studies International Forum (PDF also in shared drive)
- Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery, Introduction and Chapter 2 (PDF in shared drive and on reserve)
- Look through: Dart Centre for Trauma and Journalism, TRAUMA & JOURNALISM: A Guide For Journalists, Editors & Managers (PDF also in shared drive)
- Watch these two short videos: Covering Campus Sexual Assault (an interview with Kristen Lombardi) and Let’s Talk: Personal Boundaries, Safety and Women in Journalism
Agenda
- REVIEW OF LESSON 8
- DISCUSSION OF ON HER SHOULDERS AND VOICES OF YAZIDI WOMEN
- GUEST LECTURE
Review of Previous Lesson
- Ask students what their main takeaways were from the previous lesson
Discussion of On Her Shoulders and Voices of Yazidi Women
- Ask students their reactions to the film; what did they think it was about; what journalistic practices did they note; did it make them reconsider any of their own practices?
Johanna E. Foster and Sherizaan Minwalla, “Voices of Yazidi women: Perceptions of journalistic practices in the reporting on ISIS sexual violence,
- WHAT ARE THE 5 NARRATIVE THEMES THAT CHARACTERIZE INTERVIEWEES REFLECTIONS
- 1) Sense of pressure women felt from J to share their stories of ISIS captivity
- 2) Belief that some J practices are putting w and g at risk
- 3) Recognition of the severe emotional toll on survivors that results from repeatedly telling their stories
- 4) Sense of urgency and usefulness of going public nonetheless
- 5) Resultant feelings of frustration and betrayal hatt the willingness to share their traumatic experiences has not resulted in a concerted global response to the genocidal attacks against the Yazidi people
- IN THEIR METHODOLOGY — WHICH ISN’T JOURNALISM — WHAT DID YOU NOTICE ABOUT WHAT THEY DID? AND WHICH OF THESE COULD YOU ADAPT TO YOUR PRACTICE?
- consent, translation into right dialect
- meeting where their neighbors can’t see (as a choice)
- female only interpreters
- open ended questions
- by passing where possible traditional centers of decision making