The role of journalism in the midst of disasters
Wouldn't it be better if journalists put down their notebooks and cameras to actually help during a disaster?
Several readers posed the question in response to a recent column about Hurricane Katrina, in which I said journalists are often among the first on the scene of a disaster. Like other "first responders," they must do their jobs under terrible circumstances. For one Bellevue resident, the column prompted not a question but a condemnation. As he put it:
"To elevate the ambulance chasers of the press as first responders when they simply sit on the sidelines and file stories of the tragedy without lifting a finger to provide real help to the suffering aside from shoving a microphone in their faces is to make a cruel joke of the term. That the press is held in such low regard by the public at large must be a real head scratcher to someone as clueless as yourself."
Turning to someone who has a clue, I put the point to Roger Simpson, a University of Washington communications professor and executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. No one has done more to encourage journalists to think seriously about the topic.
"It's always a matter of conscience," Simpson said. "The journalist has to make a decision on the scene whether to help in a humane way or stay with the assignment."
The situation can take dozens of different forms. What is the greatest need? Are emergency crews or others on the scene and available to help?
"The best responses are from people who have experienced or thought through a situation," Simpson said. Because journalists can be at the scene as early as or before emergency crews, they need to "think creatively about how to make that first response as productive and ethical as possible."
Simpson guided me to www.dartcenter.org and an instructive column by Joe Hight, managing editor of The Oklahoman and president of the center's executive committee.
"It is important that journalists know what to do, both to prevent further harm to victims or themselves," Hight wrote. "It's also important that supervising editors consider the welfare of those who work for them."
Although the center was established in 1999, Simpson said it's "still pretty rare" for editors to think about such matters. If there are newsroom discussions at all, the conversation is usually a post-mortem on coverage rather than preparation for facing horrendous circumstances. Newsroom conversations and formal training need to incorporate the possibility of working under duress.
The professor said he thought about that as he watched the JetBlue airliner prepare for an emergency landing in Los Angeles last week. The pilots must have been thinking about a whole range of hypothetical situations that they are trained to anticipate.
Journalists will make better decisions in moments of crisis if they are "smart, trained and prepared." They will be healthier if they acknowledge and discuss the emotional burden of covering trauma and violence.
"Resilience is really about collaboration and mutual understanding," said Simpson, who is co-author of "Covering Violence: An Ethical Guide to Reporting about Victims and Violence" (Columbia University Press).
The Dart Center Web site has a world of insights that both journalists and consumers of journalism will find rewarding, especially at a time like this. As I write, Hurricane Rita is bearing down on the Gulf Coast. As you read, you will know how that disaster is unfolding.
Included on the site are personal stories of journalists who covered Hurricane Katrina. Some struggled with the question of how they could do more to help.
Those stories mirror the sentiments sent to me by a Seattle woman who had read the earlier column. She wrote, "Thank you for recognizing journalists as 'first responders' whose dedication, courage and professionalism sustain our democracy — not just during disasters like Hurricane Katrina, but day by day, news event by news event."
She explained that after days of no communication she had heard from two dear friends who are photojournalists in New Orleans. "Both are safe in Baton Rouge, but their life as they know it is over and they must create a new one; still they're among the very lucky," she wrote.
The reader described a telephone conversation with one of her friends. "Between the sobs and the words describing the horror, lamenting the loss of her city, and raging against the lack of government response came these words: 'I have to keep working. I have to keep working.'
"Thank God for her commitment and that of all journalists who inform us, inspire us and compel us to act."
How you can help
The Dart Society, journalists who have had fellowships with the center and who embrace its mission, is working to make relief grants to journalists hurt by Hurricane Katrina. Information about donating is available at www.dartcenter.org.
Inside The Times appears in The Sunday Seattle Times. If you have a comment on news coverage, write to Michael R. Fancher, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111, call 206-464-3310 or send e-mail to mfancher@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists