Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma

Cumbria Shootings: Making Sense of the Senseless

By Gavin Rees

A mass shooting in Britain leads a wounded community to wonder why. The director of Dart Centre Europe  reflects on the story and offers resources for journalists.

When Cops Are Killed

For the Dart Center staff, the murder of four Lakewood, Washington police officers last month, and the subsequent death of the suspected killer, brought back memories. One recalled her own experience covering an officer's death as a police reporter in Los Angeles and feeling unprepared to deal with the grief of the people she was working with in the police press room — not to mention her own reactions. More »

Two Deaths, Two Contexts

In Baghdad, Chancellor Keesling, a 25-year-old soldier from Indianapolis, shot and killed himself. In Tehran, Neda Agha Soltan, a 26-year-old student, was shot and killed as she watched a peaceful protest.

Two very different deaths, two very different news stories, but both required context to express or arouse anything but pain and loss. More »

Framing the Combat Stress Clinic Shooting

The deadliest soldier-on-soldier incident among U.S. servicemembers since the beginning of the Iraq war occurred yesterday. Sgt. John M. Russell has been charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault after opening fire upon staff at a combat stress clinic at Camp Liberty, Iraq. More »

Reporting on Youth Violence

Low crime rates mask an epidemic of violence among urban youth, but how can journalists get this story right? A panel discussion convened by the Dart Center and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Death by Love

A series of articles on domestic violence victims murdered by a lover or spouse.  Originally printed in The Times, Munster, IN, in 1995.