Trauma Simulation in Journalism

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3 Stage Problem structuring

For many, journalism is a field that is considered somewhat easy since it is non-technical. From the surface, journalism needs one to have great interpersonal skills and also have good grooming in order to be presentable before an audience of live viewers. What many do not understand is that a lot of hard work is put by media houses to ensure that their journalists do not get out of line in various situations. One of the major issues that media houses face which may affect their audience is the way its journalists handle traumatic events.

History is filled with nay stories of negative publicity directed at media houses and various journalists about how they handled certain traumatic events. A classic example is the huge public outrage at how reporters in Montreal interviewed children involved in the tragedy of March 7, 2013 where 27 people fell victim to the tragic shooting that occurred that day at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Some of the reporters have never been in such a situation and for the first time they had to make ethical decisions as to how to handle the surviving children, whether to interview them or not considering their traumatised state. Of courses on scene were insensitive reporters that had to get information by all means without caring if they would cause further trauma to the survivors (Eksterowicz & Roberts, 2000).

Research has shown that journalists have faced this challenge for a long time and the situation calls for action to be taken to avoid them causing unnecessary intrusions that would further traumatise survivors or victims of tragic events (Eksterowicz & Roberts, 2000). These unfair treatments of victims necessitate the need for simulation of traumatic events so as to equip journalists with adequate skills to handle tragic events. This discussion will be about a way of solving the issue of journalists facing trauma in the field and efforts that have been made in order to help them overcome this.

According to Massé (2011), most journalists terribly handle traumatic events during their first time. The journalists simply have never covered any tragic scene report and the very first encounter has a negative psychological effect on most of them. The result is that the public complains about the coverage of certain broadcast citing insensitiveness on part of the journalism without caring to understand that the journalist had no prior training in such events. This is a situation that can be avoided.

Casual Loop Modelling

Therefore, four areas of ethical concern have been identified which must be catered for adequately in the journalism practice to avoid repetition of ugly historical blunders. These areas include probing for a story versus paying attention to the victims’ needs, a journalist understanding his or her role at a scene, respecting the set limits of fulfilling job obligations and effectively understanding the requirements of the job while on training at actual scenes (Weaver & Willnat, 2012).

In a tragic event, victims experience different levels of trauma while it may also occur that some are too emotionally or physically affected to even say anything. It is the responsibility of a journalist to consider the state of health or danger of the victim before interviewing hi or her. When victims have faced severe physical injury, questioning them about the occurrence of the tragedy without care about their health may lead to more serious complications due to the undue stress or pressure given to them by the journalist. If the journalist can help, it is advised that he or she alert a medic to attend to the victim first before probing for information (Sweeney & Meadows, 2010).

A journalist should be well aware of his or her role at a scene. This means that a journalist should collect information in the most humanly well as possible without putting personal issues first such as status or intolerance of other people. Personal judgements should not cloud the journalist’s choice of correspondents. This goes hand in hand with journalists understanding the set limits when it comes to fulfilling job obligations. This helps keep journalists in check to avoid unnecessary questioning of traumatised patients so as to get info, or even putting oneself in danger so as to get the headline news.

Effectively understanding the requirements of the job while on training at actual scenes is important. Journalists should understand who they should get the correct info from and whom they should wait to get information from (Massé, 2011). Paying attention during training is important especially at the guidance of an instructor since one day; a journalist will be at a tragic scene by himself or herself. He or she will have to employ the skills learnt during on-the-job training several days, months, or years ago.

Behaviour over time graphs explained

At the beginning, journalists with no experience with tragic events cause huge blunders that many do not see as lack of preparation but as lack of sensitivity on the journalist’s side. It has been observed that with years of practice, most journalists develop sensitivity to collection of information from victims in traumatic events (Weaver & Willnat, 2012). This is well enhanced if the journalists had passed through simulation classes of handling tragic stories. Journalists come to appreciate the through trial and error n simulations about the consequences of certain behaviours.

There have also arisen challenges when it comes to simulation especially where the class of journalism is too big. Large enrolments have really affected the effectiveness of trauma simulations since this simulations work effectively when there are a small manageable lot of students such that interaction and question-answer sessions are made easier (Massé, 2011).

The more journalists are exposed to traumatic scenarios, the better they become at reporting scenarios. From casual loop diagrams, it can be established that it is better to expose journalists to different traumatic events, as this has the potential to enable them handle different scenarios in different but strategic and professional ways. Concentrating too much on one field due to the frequent occurrence of the tragedy while neglecting other disaster issues may cause unpreparedness in case of new disaster strikes. Therefore after covering familoiar tragic events in the community, journalism students should also be well instructed through simulation on how to handle others traumatic events.

A time difference should be created when exposing journalists to reporting traumatic events. Casual loops diagrams show that lack of breaks between tragic events may lead to psychological breakdown of a journalist. Journalists should be given adequate time to compose themselves after the reporting of a traumatic event since they too, as humans, are affected to some extent by being in tragic scenes (Willis, 2003). The time interval spaced between works should be accompanied by adequate counselling as well as debrief of the situation.

No unfairness intended male journalists have been approved as more emotionally prepared to report traumatic events as compared to their female counterparts. Of course some female journalists are very good too at composing themselves and recovering fast after reporting tragic events. However, it is only fair to consider male journalists first into tragic scenes but also consider any female journalist who is willing to report ‘nasty’ events (Sweeney & Meadows, 2010).

System archetypes

To effectively offer trauma simulation, an institution should have a well choreographed program that should constitute a staged series of events. Such events should cover a wide area of tragic news topics such as explosions, fatal fires, schools shootings, natural disasters and wars among others (Massé, 2011). While carrying out these drills, consideration is given t the fact that it is not only the victims that may be traumatised by an event but also the journalists themselves. Effective strategies should consider means of debriefing the journalists and ensure that they recover fast from their trauma in case they are affected.

A group of actors in the institution should be approached to act the various simulation parts required. If no drama groups exist, then an instructor should come up with one. An instructor should develop a well working relationship with the drama students so as to produce an interactive scene for the other students (Eksterowicz & Roberts, 2000). These scenes should not be choreographed as continuous movies seems, but rather as interactive simulations where instruments such as “freeze” can be used to gather feedback from the viewing students or give time for lecturers comments. Is here that decisions are made as to how much role of participation the audience will play, or will they be observers.

Students should be very much informed as to the importance of the simulation process since most of them may not be aware of this instrument of teaching. They are also to be encouraged to offer new ways of solving the problems that arise in the simulation (Willis, 2003). It is also of great importance that journalism students first gave a good grasp of classroom knowledge before engaging in the simulation exercise. The instructor should guide their students into taking notes about the simulation effectively and possibly write a report thereafter. This should be done to emphasize that in a real situation, in as much as the journalist empathises with the situation, he or she should remember to identify the information necessary for a story such as correct names, and ages (Tan, 2014).

Students should be allowed ample time for debrief and talk after a simulation exercise. This is especially vital where the simulation was on a sensitive topic such as hate crime. It so happens that some students may have been victims of such topics in the past. Therefore, an instructor should provide the students with directions to counselling offices on campus and also have free time to console any upset student.

Key leverage points

There are a few key leverage points when it comes to trauma simulation for journalists. Among them is the target correspondent that the journalist chooses to gather relevant information from. This is vital as it can tell of the ethical nature of the journalist on whether or not he or she assessed the situation of a victim before interviewing him or her (Eksterowicz & Roberts, 2000).

Another leverage point is the means which the journalist handles the correspondent. A journalist’s reaction to the emotions of a victim will tell a lot about his or her professionalism. This may be an instance where a victim breaks down during an interview; how will the journalist react (Willis, 2003).

The emotional state of the journalist matters a lot. Some scenes are too traumatic to bear but professional journalists realise that they have to rise above their personal dislikes and cover a situation as required. In as much as empathy cannot be avoided in some cases, journalists are encouraged not to stay in the empathetic state until they forget their role at the scene.

Intervention strategies

In case a simulation relates to one of the students in a simulation class, adequate counselling should be provided. To provide adequate counselling, the lecturer should readily provide students with information about the counselling offices in the school as well as avail him or herself after the simulation to debrief the students (Weaver & Willnat, 2012).

While on the job, media houses should be sensitive to their employees and avoid sending an employee to a tragic scene if the employee has a past related to the traumatic scene. Forcing such a journalist into the field may cause psychological instability as well as little employee productivity while at the scene. If a journalist agrees to go into the field, then it should be clear that they will not be affected and they will not be forced to engage in any intrusions of the victims that will affect them.

Scenario planning and modelling

Scenario 1: report of a school shooting

The simulation of a school shooting provides one of the most practical situations where a journalist puts their ethical trait to the test. This should be carried out by a team of actors who are well suited and can act out the scenes. The scene should highlight several areas such as; having a significant count of victims, staff and children being included as casualties, having a number of survivors some of whom may act as correspondents of the tragic event and having some of the survivors witness the ‘actual’ shooting or some of their friends having fallen victim to the tragedy (Tan, 2014).

With the scenario created above, a journalist will have to face a tough option of whom to interview and probably what to ask. On the question of whom to interview, talking to the surviving children will prove to be an ethically tough decision to make. Children are more likely to have experienced a higher level of trauma than the other staff and non-staff that may have survived the ‘shooting’. Journalists will more often than not empathise with the children and in the process forget to collect valuable information (Willis, 2003). Some may forget the details of those they interview since they shall have been traumatised by the scene itself.

This scenario is important to evaluate the recovery time of a journalist from a traumatic scene. Ethics and professionalism is put to the test in this simulation. School shooting have sadly occurred severally in many schools around the globe and many reporters have not had enough practice as to how to handle the event expertly. This simulation will thus provide ethical handling of reporting school shooting so as to avoid causing further trauma to the victims and families affected and also avoid drawing criticism from viewers (Frost, 2014).

Scenario 2: report of a soccer stadium bombing

This is one of the best simulation scenarios that put a journalist in a state of utmost chaos and pressure. Simulating the bombing of a soccer stadium will require expert actors and actresses not to mention a huge deal of time and effort. However, the results from this simulation could very much equal the resources spent in making the simulation (Tan, 2014). Soccer stadiums are well known to be populated with any fans. Reporters may be inside or outside the stadium.

Bombing of a well packed soccer stadium may result in the worst of chaotic situations if not well managed. However, journalists who get the news at the very start of the frenzy stand to create a name for him or her. Question is how does one start recording with all the chaos? Such a simulation helps would-be journalists anticipate working expertly under pressure (Weaver & Willnat, 2012).

Scenario 3: Report on Natural Disasters

Natural disasters occur day in day out in nearly all countries in the world. Therefore reporting on such an event is crucial since a journalist is likely to encounter such an event to cover. However, natural disasters very often bring about devastation and disruption to normal human activities sometimes also having tragic effects. An example is the tsunami which caused the loss on many lives just a few years ago. Floods and earthquakes have been known to cause a lot of devastation to human activity and have also had a huge social impact (Eksterowicz & Roberts, 2000).

A simulation on natural calamity is essential so as to equip the journalist with the necessary ethical skills required to handle such an event. Where there are struggling victims trapped in a calamity such as floods, a journalist learns to be ethical and only capture a scene that will not impune their ethical sense of working. A journalist also learns to capture events and rise above the emphatic feelings that may overshadow his or her professional work.

Report on the Role of Trauma Simulation in Journalism

Background

Journalism profession has done a very good job for decades of providing information to the public and inform them of events happening globally. However, there are challenges that face journalists that need to be resolved among them being the trauma involved in reporting tragic events (Willis, 2003). This has been a huge hurdle for many media institutions with the public occasionally getting enraged at the insensitive nature of some broadcast.

Development of Project

Luckily, a solution has been formulated to help journalists act ethically in the field when it comes to reporting traumatic events. This solution lies in simulation of traumatic events ad exposure of would-be journalists to such simulations before actually sending them into the field (Weaver & Willnat, 2012).

Some institutions of higher learning that have journalism courses, such as Columbia University and The University of Central Oklahoma, have taken up the responsibility of offering simulation classes for its journalism students in a bid to improve on the sensitivity of journalists at the site of tragic scenes.

The simulation exercises require a lot of understanding and effort from well prepared actors. The students are by themselves required to have a good grasp of classroom knowledge before attending the simulation class. The simulations take a lot of time to prepare since they involve cases based on real life events that happened in the past (Frost, 2014). Students are also encouraged to participate by way of asking questions along the simulation process as lecturers are also involved with “freezing” scenes so as to elaborate on what is happening.

Several key simulation exercises have been employed. The best three scenarios used include simulation of school shooting, simulation of soccer stadium bombing and simulation of occurrence of a natural disaster such as heavy floods. Others that could be incorporated include a war scenario, genocide scene, a suicide scene and violent crime. All these focus on creating traumatic scenes that will influence the emotions and ethics of a journalist when it comes to reporting the event.

Results

Simulations provide better prepared journalism students as research has found out. With more practice in simulations scenarios, journalist have improved their decision making process as to how ethical their stories should be when covering tragic events (Sweeney & Meadows, 2010).

More institutions that offer journalism courses should take up the role of offering simulation based teaching about trauma handling techniques. The institutions that do offer trauma simulation produce better trained and informed journalists than institutions that do not offer simulation training.

Challenges

The relevance of several simulation techniques has been put into question in recent times. Such uncertainty is due to the fact that some simulations were not applicable to some students maybe in a particular session. Huge disaster scenarios may not be a common thing in some communities hence drilling them on handling such scenarios does not make sense (Willis, 2003).

Some institutions face large enrolments in their journalism programs. This is a huge hindrance to the administration and effectiveness of simulation techniques because staging simulations for the whole student’s lot becomes almost impossible. Without proper guidance, some students drop out of journalism classes due to the simulation courses (Crookall & Saunders, 1989). Some may have been victims of the scene that is being simulated and without adequate counselling the simulation would psychologically affect the student.

Lack of a good team of actors may also hinder the effectiveness of a simulation class. This is especially so if actors have no concrete knowledge of the real life event they are presenting or perhaps they do not understand the interactive nature of their dramatisation (Weaver & Willnat, 2012). The effectiveness of simulation class also requires good coordination especially after the exercise for some discussion amongst the students. This will help the students get answers to questions that may have come up and were not addressed fully during the simulation exersice. The discussion time also serves as a period of debrief for any student who may have had a similar traumatic case as the one simulated before the classroom.

Lessons learnt/ Conclusion

Journalists face a lot of pressure in the field especially when reporting on traumatic events and tragedies. Simulation has come in handy to reduce the unpreparedness that is common in the field and also to fix the unethical handling of such sensitive events (Frost, 2014). More institutions of higher learning should provide simulation training so as to better prepare their student for the real world scenario. Media houses are also tasked with the responsibility of maintaining their workforce and offering good care by adequate counselling and debrief after their journalists are back from covering traumatic scenes (Frost, 2014).

References

Crookall, D & Saunders, D 1989, Communication and Simulation: From Two Fields to One Theme. Multilingual Matters: United Kingdom.

Eksterowicz, A J & Roberts, R 2000, Public Journalism and Political Knowledge. Rowman & Littlefield: United States.

Frost, C 2014, Journalism Ethics and Regulation. Routledge: United Kingdom.

Massé, M. H 2011, Trauma Journalism: On Deadline in Harm’s Way. A&C Black: United Kingdom.

Sweeney, L B & Meadows, D 2010, The Systems Thinking Playbook: Exercises to Stretch and Build Learning and Systems Thinking Capabilities. Chelsea Green Publishing: United States.

Tan, H 2014, Simulation and Modelling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications. WIT Press: United Kingdom.

Weaver, D H & Willnat, L 2012, The Global Journalist in the 21st Century. Routledge: United Kingdom.

Willis, J 2003, The Human Journalist: Reporters, Perspectives, and Emotions. Greenwood Publishing Group: United States.

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