Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Photo: Thomas Peter / Reuters Pictures. : Broken sunglasses littered the ground in the aftermath of the Love Parade.

This is a translation of Petra Tabeling's original German article, "Die Sprache der Ohnmacht," from the Dart Centre Europe website.

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The deaths of 21 young people at a dance festival in Duisburg, Germany on July 24 highlights the role – positive and negative – that media play in covering the aftermath of tragedies.

The estimated 1.4 million party-goers who flocked to the city just wanted to have a good time at the Love Parade, billed as the world's largest techno-dance event, now in its eighteenth year. This time, though, events took a tragic turn. A mass panic took hold at the only entry and exit point to the festival site, a little-used area near the city's main railway station. Hundreds were pressed against each other, crushed, and trampled down.

The shocking video and still images that appeared in media publications around the world were mainly shot on the mobile phone cameras of those who were on the scene.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

The "why" question dominated the coverage over the following days and weeks. How could this venue, which was not designed for the crowd of more than 1 million, be granted a permit for such a mass event? Why did the tunnel have become a death trap?

At the press conference that followed, the organisers of the event – Duisburg Mayor Adolf Sauerland and Rainier Schaller, owner of a chain of fitness studios, who has run the Love Parade since 2006 – offered only a few words on what had happened and scarcely any information in response to questions from the many attending journalists.

A day after the stampede, the reportage reflected the lack of hard information. Die Taz ran the headline: “19 Dead. Nobody to Blame” and titled another piece on the press conference “A Record of Awkwardness and Contemptability.”

That people’s thinking should turn towards the question of responsibility so quickly after such a disaster is understandable. For some, it provides a sense of control and a shape through which to express their grief. But on this occasion, the festival organisers gave the media little to meet that need.

INTERVIEWING VICTIMS: A FINE LINE

The reporting built up a picture of what happened with the help of witnesses and those directly affected, some of whom were still visibly in shock. Disaster experts, pastors and psychologists were questioned, but some journalists found themselves navigating delicate territory when interviewing victims.

“How clear, how close to the action – and to these deaths – do the pictures and words a journalist uses have to be for the reporting to be right?" Ralph Pfister of Süddeutsche Zeitung asked in a July 27 piece. "When does he cross the line into sensationalising and compounding the pain of victims and relatives?”

Petra Pluwatsch, in the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger, noted the difficulties reporters face in the field: “One would like to, indeed one would need to identify oneself as a reporter, and then to ask how they are, what they have seen, what they have experienced. But one just doesn’t in the face of their tears and sorrow."

REPORTING OR ENTERTAINMENT?

Widely reported in German media was a statement issued by the German Journalists Association (DJV) three days after the tragedy, which noted that although the majority of the media acted appropriately, complaints against the tabloid Bild magazine were lodged with both the German Press Council and the Association.

In the days following the tragedy, Bild published the names and pictures of the victims, alongside photo galleries in which covered bodies could be seen; it simulated the horror via a multimedia reconstruction. It was this depiction which prompted many readers to complain to the Press Council.

“There are journalistic principles which must be adhered to. These include the need for the press to avoid an inappropriate and sensational depiction of violence, brutality and suffering,” the DJV stated. “It is precisely when covering such tragic events that the media must discharge its particular responsibility in these matters. It is disrespectful to victims and family members, for the media to aim their efforts to meet a desire for sensation.”

There were also journalists covering the event who themselves feared for their lives. On the WDR news programme Aktuelle Stunde, a television reporter described how an out of control drunken crowd made her so fearful at how they might react to her recording the chaos that at one point she turned her camera off.

In an article titled “Get the Walls Out of the Way” in the current issue of der Zeit, Andrea Hanna Hünninger recounted how she “barely escaped the crush in the tunnel.” The article contained descriptions of panic, the terror of dying and helpfulness of strangers, but also of gratitude for having survived the tragedy.

It is important to understand that the reporting the trauma and consequences of the Love Parade tragedy is multi-faceted. There is never only one story.

The challenge to journalists responsible for continuing coverage of the Love Parade is whether they will be able to explore the aftermath of the disaster in all of its complexity with sensitivity, patience and depth.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Journalists, editors and producers can find information on covering trauma and violence on the Dart Centre website. Most of the materials are in English and free to use. Here is a short list of items that might be useful:

• Tragedies and Journalists, a 40-page guide to help journalists, photojournalists and editors report on violence while protecting both victims and themselves.
• News Media and Trauma, on online video produced by Dart Centre Australasia and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, presents perspectives on covering traumatic events from a variety of Australian journalists.
• Fact Sheet on Covering Trauma: An overview of current research on the occupational hazards for journalists covering traumatic events, the risk factors that aggravate those effects and some suggestions for mitigating those factors.

MORE ON THE STORY (GERMAN LANGUAGE LINKS)

• “But You Don’t Look Good,” By Ulla Fröhling and published in Message 2006. Key guidelines for interviewing witnesses. (Link to downloadable PDF)
• WDR 5 Funkhaus Wallraffplatz from 7 August 2010.
• A discussion between Jörg Schönenborn, director-in- chief of WDR, and Petra Tabeling from the Dart Centre on the challenges posed by disaster journalism and the responsibilities of the media. Listen to the audio here.
• "Trauma is contagious," an interview with trauma expert Fee Rojas on WDR online.
• Trauma expert Kerstin Stellemann in der Zeit argues for restraint in disaster reporting.