Journalists and trauma: a brief overview

In the past decade, journalism experts realized what those in the fields of emergency response and management have known for much longer: That journalists could be psychologically affected by the traumatic events they covered. Although a fledging field of study, groups such as the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, based at the University of Washington, in Seattle, WA, have dedicated themselves to advocating the ethical and thorough reporting of trauma, educating working journalists about trauma and serving as a forum for journalists to discuss topics related to covering traumatic events. The three major studies conducted on the subject--focusing on print journalists, photojournalists, and war journalists--have discovered that journalists can suffer sleeplessness, flashbacks, and in most extreme cases, posttraumatic stress disorder. According to Dr. Roger Simpson, director of the Dart Center, there is much work still to be done on the subject.