Take care of each other: Resources for Minnesota journalists covering the Annunciation school and church shooting

Twin Cities journalists are once again covering the trauma of gun violence this week.
A pink piece of paper stapled to a telephone pole in New Orleans says in black ink "stop gun violence!" Photo by Bart Everson via Flickr
A sign on a phone pole in New Orleans calls for a stop to gun violence. Photo by Bart Everson via Flickr
By Meg Martin | Minnesota Journalism Center

Twin Cities journalists are once again covering the trauma of gun violence this week.

Minneapolis was already reeling from four shootings in 24 hours when a gunman shot into a Catholic church full of elementary school students during a Mass to celebrate the opening of the school year. Two children — an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old — were killed in the pews. Seventeen other people, mostly children, were wounded.

Psychosocial safety: Covering gun violence in your community (CPJ)

Earlier this summer, this same journalism community was covering another traumatic story that made international headlines when political violence in the Twin Cities left state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, dead, and state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, shot and injured.

These experiences with gun violence, especially those involving children, take their toll on a community and have a particular impact on its newsrooms and journalists. No matter the role a journalist plays in coverage like this — front-line reporting, editing, production, design, layout, newsroom support, ops and beyond — they are exposed to trauma that can have a lasting impact.

Everyone in the newsroom has a role to play in building a culture of support and safety.

Trauma-informed journalism: What it is, why it’s important and tips for practicing it (The Journalist’s Resource)

That culture is built, in part, on small actions: Checking in, listening closely and modeling practices of care and connection whenever possible. These approaches are doubly critical for freelance colleagues, who often have less access to resources and support than their staff counterparts.

The MJC has compiled resources for supporting your teams’ and colleagues’ mental health from our partners at the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma (formerly the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma ), the Committee to Protect Journalists , the International Women’s Media Foundation and others. We are republishing an updated version of an earlier set of resources to include more tools that are relevant to this particular story. 

We hope you’ll use them, share them and keep them nearby as you navigate this coverage. Here's what you'll find in this resource roundup:

 

Questions, suggestions or more information: If you are a Minnesota journalist looking for more resources, training or tools, please don’t hesitate to contact us at the MJC: (612) 626-7765 or [email protected].

Newsroom-wide: Building a culture of support

Samantha Ragland of the American Press Institute has developed an excellent resource on trauma-informed leadership .

Leadership can happen at any level — among peers, on small teams or at the helm of a division or news operation.

Simply put, Ragland writes :

“To be trauma-informed as a news leader or reporter is to know that what happens to us

  • is important .
  • will influence behavior and health .
  • will motivate us to act uniquely and accordingly .”

Leaders who are trauma-informed, she says, “have created enough psychological safety to be trusted by their teams and to respond accordingly when a traumatic exposure has happened. These leaders are not therapists, nor do they pretend to be. But they are present, and they do lean on their journalistic curiosity to discover what happened and what to do next.”

Trauma-informed leadership: How psychological safety can enhance journalistic well-being – Samantha Ragland (API)

That approach to leadership can take on many different forms, but can include, in stories like this:

  • Regularly checking in on people across the newsroom
  • Articulating your team’s mission and purpose in the coverage
  • Making it easy for folks across the organization to access mental health and other resources
  • Paying attention to who’s been exposed to disturbing or intense information in videos, photos or documents (like warrants, charging documents or other materials)
  • Giving people breaks and sharing the burden of coverage , quick-turn and long-term (planning and organization can be forms of care, too)
  • Understanding how individuals’ identities and experiences intersect with the story
  • Normalizing care , out loud — of ourselves and each other
  • Creating a safe environment where people feel comfortable saying they need space, a break or other support

More resources

For front-line teams: Preparation and focus are acts of care 

Preparation and planning — even in developing or breaking news situations — can be a powerful form of care for your newsroom.

So can focus: The Committee to Protect Journalists’ excellent tipsheet for covering gun violence in a community reminds both newsroom managers and staff that defining a mission in the coverage, and reiterating it regularly, can be a key element to building a newsroom’s resilience in the midst of a challenging story.

Embedded within that mission is a commitment to navigating relationships within the communities we’re reporting on — and for — through a trauma-informed lens: “Journalists’ well-being,” CPJ writes , “is supported by the belief that their work has both purpose and potential for positive impact—that they do no harm to their sources."

Similarly, the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma suggests developing trauma awareness briefings when planning coverage and assigning roles.

The idea: Being aware of the risks inherent in covering traumatic stories, and how your team might navigate them, can give teams the confidence that the newsroom has their back, so they can in turn dive into some of the toughest assignments.

From the Global Center’s staff care tips for managers and editors :

  • Acknowledge and show appreciation even before people go. Feeling valued keeps people emotionally balanced and more invested in hard work.
  • Remember that all those involved in newsgathering can be exposed to trauma — not just the front line . Picture and film editors, sound recordists, etc. will be also exposed to potentially traumatic material.


The Global Center’s tips for covering a hometown catastrophe is almost two decades old but offers some powerful and still useful recommendations for front-line editors and newsroom managers. Among them:

  • Send a message from the top: Take care of yourself.
  • Don't chase every detail.
  • Make non-traditional assignments.
  • You are part of this story: Don't forget what it feels like.

More resources


Tools for incorporating trauma-informed practices into your reporting on this story:

For interviewers: Talking to children and families

The distinct heartbreak of covering violence against children and families brings its own challenges for journalists: How to appropriately give voice to peoples’ experiences in a traumatic moment, while doing no harm, honoring their agency and navigating interactions with care and dignity.

Careful, trauma-informed approaches matter.

In a guide to interviewing students , Columbia Journalism Review’s Alexandria Neason writes, “LynNell Hancock, a veteran education reporter and professor at Columbia Journalism School, says it’s worth considering whether it’s a good idea to interview a young child immediately after experiencing trauma, even if you have consent from a parent or guardian. If you can’t do the interview with tremendous care to not further the damage they’ve already been subjected to, you should consider not doing it at all.”

On CJR’s list of recommendations: Do no harm; get parental permission; and be aware of who gets to tell their story.

Those recommendations align with recommendations developed by the Supporting Mass Shooting Survivors project , a large-scale research project that explored the needs of mass shooting survivors:

  • Create space for survivors to tell their stories — including those who were present but not physically injured.
  • Obtain consent before filming or taking photos — so people know how the materials will be used.
  • Be cautious when bringing up the perpetrator — and avoid featuring the perpetrator among survivors.
  • Consider the media footprint and its impact on the local community.
  • Follow guidance for trauma-informed reporting — and use language that reflects the survivor’s experience.

 

More resources

For editors: Communication is key

Some of the Dart Center’s best practices for supporting journalists covering traumatic events echoes common recommendations for physical safety in challenging stories:

  • maintain contact;
  • offer encouragement;
  • create space for honesty;
  • encourage self-care;
  • manage contact from other departments in your organization; and
  • rotate people in and out of intense assignments.

In short: Stay connected and keep lines of communication open and clear. 
 

After the assignment: Keep checking in

Most coverage of traumatic stories is ongoing — all-hands-on-deck efforts over a significant period of time. Even when the acute crisis is over, most resources say that regular check-ins with everyone involved are critical.

In the short term, make a practice to debrief after every assignment.

The Global Center for Journalism and Trauma’s staff care tips for managers and editors says “it’s essential that managers make contact with anyone on their staff who’s been through a distressing experience. This is good management anyway, but is especially important in the aftermath of trauma.” And remember that people’s responses to the story they’re covering will vary over time. That’s why creating safe spaces for teams to communicate, over time, is essential.

Strategies: How to create an emotionally safe space (API)

The Dart Center’s guides say encouraging journalists to stay connected to family, friends and social networks throughout the complex coverage is helpful. So is seeking out counseling and other mental health resources.

The Journalist Trauma Support Network , a project of the Dart Center, has trained cohorts of mental health professionals on the specific needs of journalists who have covered complex and traumatic events. JTSN maintains a directory of the practitioners who have gone through their training and a list of resources for journalists to find financial assistance for accessing mental health care.

Journalist-specific mental health support: Minnesota therapist directory | Financial assistance resources (Journalist Trauma Support Network)

These tools are for everybody, from front-line reporters to designers to editors. Remember, the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma says , that news leaders “are also part of the ‘ripple effect of trauma.’ Notice your own emotions and don’t be surprised if you also feel some of the above symptoms or others that seem out of the ordinary. Make sure you apply self care and talk to someone as well.”

More resources


Self-care tools for individuals to incorporate into their daily lives:

 

Longer term: Understand the impacts

Most of the guides acknowledge that everyone on your team will process their experience differently and in their own time. For some, the adrenaline of the breaking news cycle might stave off the processing till later.

The Global Center for Journalism and Trauma’s staff care tips for managers and editors recommends checking in with people a few weeks (three to four is a good window) after the traumatic story to see how they’re doing.

You might consider setting a calendar reminder or scheduling a one-on-one chat with folks on your team for a month from now. Pay particular attention to the folks who were involved in June's coverage of political violence. Right about now is the time when you would otherwise be checking in, according to the guidance.

“During this time, employ ‘watchful waiting’ (keeping a quiet eye on them),” the Global Center suggests. “Any behavior that is out of character for your staff member is an indicator that all is not well.”

And, of course, ensure that the easy access to resources and support opportunities continues well beyond the immediate need.

Related

 

Questions, suggestions or more information: If you are a Minnesota journalist looking for more resources, training or tools, please don’t hesitate to contact us at the MJC: (612) 626-7765 or [email protected]. 
 

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