Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Helping Joplin's Journalists

By Bruce Shapiro

As I am sure you know, the death toll continues to rise in Joplin, Missouri, devastated by the worst tornado to hit the U.S. in 60 years. At this writing, 132 people are dead, and many others are still missing. More »

Shock and Resilience in Samoa

By Jon Stephenson

Mata’afa Kene Lesa woke up in heaven Sept. 19 and found himself in hell. When a tsunami struck Upolu, one of Western Samoa’s two main islands, Lesa – the editor of Samoa Observer – was one of the first local journalists to respond, racing to the affected area to be met by scenes of death and devastation. More »

Resources for Reporting on the Jakarta Hotel Bombings

On the morning of Friday, July 17, at least eight people were killed and fifty injured in near-simultaneous bombings of two luxury hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was the first major terrorist attack to take place on Indonesian soil in several years.

To help journalists covering this story, in Indonesia and around the world, the Dart Center is aggregating useful resources. If you have an addition, please add it in the comments. More »

How Clinicians Can Help Journalists Cover Disaster

"If I asked you to fill in the following statement, 'Journalists are __,' what's the first thing that pops into your head?" Elana Newman, research director of the Dart Center, posed this question Monday as part of a webinar she co-hosted with Dart Center Executive Director Bruce Shapiro. In a disaster, when interviewing and reporting on victims is inevitable, the gap between a clinician's answer and a journalist's answer to this question can be the difference between stories that are both sensitive and effective and stories that are neither. More »

Unraveling Media and Trauma Connections

By Meg Spratt

Betty Pfefferbaum, winner of the first ISTSS Frank Ochberg Award for Research in Trauma and the Media, discusses what journalists can learn from her research.

When Disaster Strikes: Reporting and Responding

In Boston, an international conference explores the collaboration and tension between journalists and public health workers at times of crisis. 

Witnessing and Picturing Violence

By Donna DeCesare

In a multimedia presentation covering gangs and paramilitaries, earthquakes and HIV, a photographer and educator explores how collaboration is the key to making images that are both powerful and responsible.

A Question of Faith in the Face of Disaster

By Emma-Jane Kirby

Emma-Jane Kirby talks about how reporting on the two earthquakes that hit the small Italian village of San Giuliano di Puglia in 2002 made her question her faith.