Journalists dealing with emotions - in their interviewees or in themselves - can get their reporting spectacularly right, but also spectacularly wrong. And there's a striking lack of emotional literacy in the discussions of British journalism.

Those are two of the most urgent conclusions to emerge from a major conference in London held on January 10, 2008 on the teaching of emotional awareness in British journalism training.

The conference saw the launch of a major study from Bournemouth University, and has been reported in some detail by the BBC, both TV and online.

For a Bournemouth University summary of the outcomes, click here.

The Dart Centre has published a new set of comprehensive guidelines on the coverage and experience of trauma in journalism.

The guidelines conclude a two-year consultation process among the Dart Centre's international training and trauma support community, including journalists, senior editors, news managers and leading mental health professionals.

They are available for distribution and use as long as the Dart Centre is credited, that the text is not changed, and that they are not used for commercial benefit. Click here to download a PDF copy.

How does a journalist negotiate successfully and appropriately the boundary between sensational reporting and observing an embargo on something really bad that’s happening, for example a kidnap? How do the media find the right way of dealing with people who have been impacted by trauma and perhaps become victims?

These were the subjects of an unprecedented discussion in Austria in November organised by bestNET, bringing together experts from media, communications and trauma research from German-speaking Europe, including colleagues from the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma associated with the ESTSS. Read on....

If, as a journalist or an ordinary civilian, you’re taken hostage  in conflict zone, what’s the best way to keep yourself sane, considering that you may stay incarcerated – with nothing to read, no-one to talk to, nothing to do - for months or even years on end?

The BBC’s former Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston found out the hard way earlier this year when he was held for nearly four months by members of the Dogmush clan, and released only after an international outcry led by the BBC and the takeover of power in the Gaza strip by the Hamas movement. Read on....

It's been a while since the last Dart Centre Europe newsletter - so this one comes with warm greetings for Christmas and the New Year, some transition news, and details of the London conference on January 10 on Emotions and Journalism. If you're on the European newsletter mailing list, you've already had this. Otherwise, click here to download a PDF copy.