Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Gavin Rees, Director of the Dart Centre Europe, and Barry Richards, Professor of Public Communication in the Media School at Bournemouth University, will talk about the implications for training of their research on emotional literacy in journalism. Stephen Jukes, Dean of the Media School and former Head of Global News at Reuters, will lead a discussion on the place of objectivity in emotionally-aware journalism, in the age of social media. Stuart Allan, Bournemouth’s Professor of Journalism, Dr. Caitlin Patrick and Dr. Einar Thorsen will analyse some recent examples of news imagery in relation to trauma, particularly coverage of the recent capture and death of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.

The discussion will be of interest to all those concerned with the management of difficult emotions in the production of news, and the emotional impact of news content on audiences.

This is the first in a series of informal seminars organised by the Media School of Bournemouth University, where researchers will present some of their work and invite discussion of its implications for the practice of journalists and for other stakeholders in some major areas of policy and practice.

DETAILS 

6.00-8.00pm, followed by wine.

Frontline Club
13 Norfolk Place
London W21QJ

Entry is free and all are welcome, but registration is essential. 

Is it ethically acceptable to "death-knock" at a grieving family's door? If so, can it be done sensitively and in the interest of the bereaved, as well as the wider public?

These questions have been given new urgency by the ongoing Leveson Inquiry: it has heard powerful evidence from the Dowler, McCann and Watson families, who have all dealt with the pressures of press attention amid traumatic circumstances.

This Dart Center seminar will bring together journalists, filmmakers and researchers to discuss the future of the death knock post-Leveson. Dr Sallyanne Duncan, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and Jackie Newton, Liverpool John Moores University, will introduce their research in this area, which examines bereaved families' varying responses to news media intrusion.

Their research has found that many encounters between journalists and the newsworthy bereaved are anticipated and positive, particularly in the regions.

This is the fourth in a series of practical discussions hosted by Dart Centre Europe, meeting informally over lunch, for journalists and filmmakers interested in fresh approaches to reporting on violence and trauma. The practice-based conversation will help to inform the Dart Centre's approach to supporting journalists and media workers who cover trauma and violence.

DETAILS

12:30pm-2:00pm

Dart Centre Europe
48 Gray's Inn Road
London WC1X 8LT
Entrance around the corner on Baldwin Gardens.
Nearest tube: Chancery Lane

Map

Lunch is provided.

Places are limited and so please RSVP via email to judith.townend@dartcentre.org to reserve a seat.

Please notify us of any dietary requirements.

The panel discussion "Failing Institutions or Backbone Professionalism? The Quality of Journalism Education in Developing Countries" will examine questions such as whether to strengthen institutions or build up new ones - which concept should global stakeholders pursue for formal education in the media sector? How can Africa’s academic media education institutions be improved? How can the quality of formal education in media professions be enhanced? Prof. Stephen Jukes Dean of the Media School at Bournemouth University will be on the panel along with Prof. Guy Berger, UNESCO, Prof. Dr. Christoph Schmidt, DW Akademie, Nazeer Aziz Ladhani, Aga Khan Univeristy, Mwikali Muthiani, Nation Group, Ashaf Mansour, Cairo German University.

The Dart Center co-sponsors a screening of "Silenced Voices," as part of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Lincoln Center in New York City. The film tells the story of Lasantha Wickrematunge, editor-in-chief of The Morning Leader in Sri Lanka, who was gunned down by eight men in broad daylight in the capital, Colombo; and his newly wed and now widowed wife, Sonali Samarasinghe, who had to arrange her bridegroom’s funeral only a few days after the wedding. As a lawyer and journalist, Samarasinghe worked closely with Wickrematunge, and the government forced her to leave the country not long after his killing. Since that time, Samarasinghe has been fighting for justice from her base in New York.

For more information see the official website (

http://ff.hrw.org/film/silenced-voices?city=5

)

Journalism educators from North America, Australia and Great Britain meet at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism June 27-30 for the third annual Dart Academic Fellowship program.

The fellowship provides intensive training on teaching accurate, ethical and sensitive coverage of tragedy.

Faculty drawn from news organizations across the globe will provide instruction and discussion on investigative reporting, focusing on advanced techniques for for finding, retrieving and analyzing data internationally; sourcing and interviewing techniques; reporting ethics; utilizing multimedia tools to more effectively tell a story and more.

Tuition for the Summer Investigative Reporting Course is $7,500 USD and will last from July 9 through July 27.

For more information, contact Keith Olsen, Continuing Education Program Administrator, at 011-212-854-3781 or by email at kso2107@columbia.edu.

To register, visit the official website.

Since 9/11 and the so called ‘terror attacks’, questions surrounding the nature of traumatic experience and how that experience may be presented/represented have dominated the Humanities.  This has led to a range of critical works which have attempted to evaluate the parameters of memory, testimony and the ethics of witnessing on both an individual and a collective level. 

Trauma theories exist at the intersection of disciplines such as psychology, history, cultural and media studies and the dramatic arts.  More recently this inter-disciplinarlity has led to a growing area known as the 'Medical Humanities' in which literary and cultural theorists work alongside practitioners and clinicians involved in furthering Traumatology.  Trauma theory is therefore at the forefront of contemporary debates about human subjectivity and experience, but also locates such discourses within historical and political contexts and agendas.

The Rory Peck Trust will be holding an award ceremony and annual fundraising gala in benefit of their work in supporting freelance cameramen and women in news and current affairs worldwide. The awards celebrate the work of freelance journalists in covering important humanitarian issues, and honour their craft skills as well as journalistic ability and integrity.

DETAILS

Wednesday 28 November

7.30pm

BFI Southbank

London SE1

For more information and to purchase tickets see the official website.