Ethics and trauma: lessons from media coverage of Black Saturday

Journalism on the Spot: Ethical Dilemmas When Covering Trauma and the Implications for Journalism Education

“…(4) Journalists receive little or no training on how to deal with ethical dilemmas when reporting on trauma and violence and agree that while it may be difficult to translate such training into a classroom setting, more education would be beneficial. These findings are largely in line with the wider literature that indicates journalists navigate ethical dilemmas based on their individual morals and interpretations (Kim & Kelly, 2010;Muller, 2010).…”

“…As inexperienced journalists can cause a number of harms, such as not being able to produce meaningful stories (Fullerton & Patterson, 2006;Maxson), insensitivity when dealing with victims (Dufresne, 2004;Maxson), and other serious ethical violations (Maxson;Muller, 2010;Walsh-Childers et al, 2011), there is a vital need to improve training for novice journalists in order to counter these problems (Joseph, 2011). We believe using classroom simulations may be an effective tool in achieving this, and we offer guidelines on simulation design and an outline of a classroom exercise.…”

“…Furthermore, journalists who cover these events receive little guidance from within the newsroom (Duncan & Newton, 2010). The literature has identified a number of problems that can arise when ill-equipped journalists are faced with covering a traumatic event: a lack of sensitivity when dealing with victims (Dufresne, 2004;Maxson) and other actions that can impede recovery or cause retraumatization (Simpson & Coté, 2006;Sykes et al, 2003); serious ethical violations such as misrepresentation, lying, and being unnecessarily intrusive (Maxson, 2000;Muller, 2010;Walsh-Childers, Lewis, & Neely, 2011); and an inability to move coverage of trauma and violence beyond the events themselves toward truly powerful and meaningful stories (Fullerton & Patterson, 2006;Maxson).…”

“…(1) Compounded by job demands such as deadlines and editorial pressures, journalists regularly face dilemmas between their job responsibilities and ethical obligations as members of society, and navigate these based on their individual "moral compasses" (Muller, 2010).…”

Quake Aftermath: Christchurch Journalists' Collective Trauma Experience and the Implications for Their Reporting

“…In this instance, the greater empathy that reporters had with their audience, which is discussed above, led many to think more deeply about their questioning of people in traumatic situations, especially those who lost friends and family in the earthquake. This supports Muller's (2010) study, which found that Australian journalists "were aware that they were dealing with people who had no experience of the media and were vulnerable to being exploited. They said they felt a responsibility to take this into account when choosing what to use and what to omit from their reports.''…”