Covering Violence: A Guide to Ethical Reporting About Victims & Trauma / Edition 2

by Roger Simpson, William Coté

Overview

Reporting on violence is one of the most problematic features of journalistic practice-the area most frequently criticized by the public and those on the receiving end of that coverage. Now in its second edition, Covering Violence remains a crucial guide for becoming a sensitive and responsible reporter. Discussing such topics as rape and the ethics of interviewing children, the book gives students and journalists a detailed understanding of what is happening "on the scene" of a violent event, including where a reporter can go safely and legally, how to obtain the most useful information, and how best to interview and photograph victims and witnesses. This second edition takes our turbulent postmillennium history into account and emphasizes the consequences of frequent exposure to traumatic events. It offers new chapters on 9/11 and terrorism, the Columbine school shootings, and the photographing of violent events, as well as additional profiles of Vietnamese American, Native American, and African American journalists.

More essential than ever, Covering Violence connects journalistic practices to the rapidly expanding body of literature on trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and secondary traumatic stress, and pays close attention to current medical and political debates concerning victims' rights.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231133920
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	07/04/2006
Edition description:	second edition
Pages:	305
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Roger Simpson has been a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and the Detroit Free Press and was the founding director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at the University of Washington. He is the coauthor of Unionism or Hearst: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Strike of 1936 and An Evening at The Garden of Allah: A Gay Cabaret in Seattle (Columbia).William Coté is emeritus professor of journalism at Michigan State University and the coordinator of the Victims and Media Program. For almost twenty years he was a professional journalist at the Ypsilanti Press and Booth Newspapers State Capitol Bureau. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and has conducted several seminars on victims and the media as well as traumatic stress.

Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Journalists and Violence
Sharon Schmickle: Finding Peace in Covering a War
A Little Boy, a Frantic Effort
Sharon Schmickle
1. Assault on an Essential Human System
2. The Journalist: At Risk for Trauma
3. 9/11: Lessons from a Sunny Morning
David Handschuh: The Meaning of Being There
4. Reporting at the Scene
Marley Shebala: Adding Context to the Scene
What Is a Navajo Leader?
Marley Shebala
5. The Interview: Assault or Catharsis?
Anh Do: Crossing Cultural Borders
Hope: Caring for Newborns Inspires an Inmate to Start a Family? Bribing a Guard at Her Husband's Prison So the Couple Can Be Together
Anh Do
6. Writing the Trauma Story
Sonia Nazario: Writing from the Inside
Enrique's Journey: Defeated Seven Times, a Boy Again Faces "the Beast"
Sonia Nazario
7. Pictures and Sounds of Trauma
Fletcher Johnson: Eyewitness to Hell
8. Reporting About Children
Jane O. Hansen: Moving Readers to Protect Children
Selling Atlanta's Children
Jane O. Hansen
9. Columbine: A Story That Won't Let Go
10. Reporting on Rape Trauma
Debra McKinney: Charting the Course of Recovery
Malignant Memories: It's a Long Road Back to Recovery from Incest
Debra McKinney
11. Using the Searchlight with Precision and Sensitivity
Scott North: A Witness for the Community
Family Supports Decision on Plea Deal; Answers Wait 21 Years
Scott North
12. Oklahoma City: "Terror in the Heartland"
13. Conclusions
Guidelines for Journalists Who Cover Violence
The Dart Award for Excellence in Reporting on Victims of Violence
A Note About Trauma Training
Resources for Journalists
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Sherry Ricchiardi

Covering Violence is an invaluable resource for use in newsrooms and in journalism classes throughout the country. The real-life examples and eyewitness accounts from media professionals greatly strengthen this second edition. The practical 'how to' approach on such issues as crossing cultural borders and doing sensitive interviews continues to be the backbone of this pioneering work.

— Sherry Ricchiardi, senior writer, American Journalism Review, and professor of journalism, Indiana University

Editorial Reviews

[Simpson and Coté] offer a revised doctrine: that journalists at an accident or a disaster refrain from commando tactics and even try to be helpful, that victims should get respect and scrupulous coverage...and that journalists themselves can become secondary victims.

Columbia Journalism Review

[Simpson and Coté] offer a revised doctrine: that journalists at an accident or a disaster refrain from commando tactics and even try to be helpful, that victims should get respect and scrupulous coverage...and that journalists themselves can become secondary victims.

Columbia Journalism Review