Editor's note: Philip Castle's research of coverage of the 1998 tsunami in Papua New Guinea showed that support for journalists was crucial, especially upon their return home from covering the disaster. They faced unrealistic expectations to deliver photos and stories constantly without proper rest breaks, often under difficult technological challenges. Here, Castle offers advice for journalists on both self care and on reporting tragedy, based on interviews with staff of The Oklahoman in 2003.

Bryan Painter was the features editor for The Oklahoman when he was asked to organise the paper's profiles following the Oklahoma bombing on the morning of 19 April 1995 in which 168 were killed and many more wounded and again after the tornado on the evening of 3 May 1999 in which 40 were killed and many injured.

His role was to assist and organise the reporters and
photographers to prepare and publish the stories of the
victims in both tragedies. These became a series titled Profiles of Life which ran for some months after the
events. The series was so well received the family and
friends of victims initially not covered asked for their loved
ones to be included. Painter said that once the stories began no one objected to the participating and, in fact, the stories became a significant cathartic series for those who suffered.

At first he undertook the stories on his own, because he
didn't want the other reporters to have to do it. Soon he
realised it was too big a task for him alone. The paper then used other reporters and this too became therapeutic for them, particularly if they had connections to the victims.

However, Painter learned an interesting lesson from his
experience with the first series of profiles. He said: "I did
it all wrong the first time [after the bombing] and I think I
got it right the second time [after the tornado]." While he
was satisfied with the paper's reports and thought the
reporters dealt with the stories properly, he felt he failed
in his own self-care. He learned from his mistakes after the bombing profiles and applied what he had learnt after the tornado stories.

Painter listed six lessons he learned:

• It is wise to talk regularly to someone close and
  trusted about your feelings and events being reported. In Painter's case it was his wife.
• As much as is possible keep your normal pattern of
  activities and behaviour going. If you would normally go to a game or meet some friends after work or go to church or scouts or spend time with you family, then keep those patterns.
• Keep your sense of humour and laugh and joke. Just
  because you are dealing with sorrow and sadness doesn't mean you can't laugh and enjoy the fun of life.
• Be open to the idea of counselling and, if you
  consider it is worthwhile, take advantage of the
  opportunities and be positive about their possibilities for you and others.
• Take pride in your work and accept that the stories you are doing are important to many people and to yourself. The work of a reporter is to take the story one step closer to the reader.
• Painter used his faith for wisdom and skill and
  always prayed before he interviewed for each profile. He properly prepared in his own way for each interview and obviously treated the opportunity with great respect.

The advantage of counselling, Painter said, was that it allowed him to be free of his responsibility to just the reader and to open up to his own feelings. He had noticed after the bombing that he stopped being a happy, joyful person and others said that he appeared to have lost his ability to laugh and even talk to people socially.

The best a reporter could offer a victim, Painter said, was to display common sense in his approach, show real compassion and be accurate in his reporting. Often the survivors were at their lowest point in their lives and it was inappropriate for a reporter to hurt them anymore.

"I felt a strong compulsion that I didn't want to cause them anymore hurt," he said. Sometimes, he added, reporters felt that backing off meant they wouldn't get the story. "That's too much ego and not enough brains," Painter said, adding that a reporter should feel at all levels that they don't have to do the story.

He said the approach he used was to contact one of the
victim's family or friends and ask if they were willing to
help with the story or if they knew if some one would help. His would open by offering sympathy for their loss, and asking if it was convenient to talk. He would then explain why the stories were significant and how the stories would be used.

The most important factor when dealing with each story was that it wasn't 168 dead or 40 dead, but one dead person, the victim, who was special to those family and friends. He accepted everyone associated with the victim felt their loss.

He treated each story as a one-off and said this principle
applied to every story involving a profile; he saw each
victim as a single special person.