Chapter 5 The Resilient Journalist: Making Dollars and Sense
In: Where To From Here? Examining Conflict-Related and Relational Interaction TraumaSearch for other papers by Lyn Barnes in
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Abstract
The role of journalism is to make sense of the world. Journalists tell stories to try to unravel the unbelievable, such as when planes mysteriously disappear, or a student decides to take a gun to his school and shoot his classmates. The journalist is the conjoint, informing people about what is known and what is not known. Today’s graduate journalists must not only be competent in how to write a news story, take photographs, record video or an audio clip, but they must also be prepared to witness the most brutal scenes, sift out the most crucial information and show compassion – as well as meet never-ending deadlines. Then they must face the public, and often be abused for over-stepping the bounds of what is acceptable as they seek out news content. The symbiotic relationship between the press and the public is often tenuous. All too often journalists who cover tragedy and disaster are inexperienced at dealing with death and grief. Are they prepared adequately for being on the ‘front lines’ and the increasing stress that goes with the job? This chapter looks at using role-play as a way of teaching journalism students how to understand why people react differently to grief. Role-play has a two-fold function: to help graduates survive in an industry that progressively features violence and trauma content, and to learn how to protect themselves from distressing situations.