THE TOUGH STORIESDeath, disease, disasters

Aug. 1

At some time, on every beat, journalists encounter death. It’s inevitable. Life is terminal.

Sometimes the encounter is distant. Sometimes it is in your face.

Sometimes we deal with death in the past tense. Sometimes, the future. Very occasionally, in real time.

Sometimes it affects an entire community. Sometimes, a nation.

We also encounter disease and disorders, difficult subjects to cover.

Whatever and however we encounter these life/death situations, we must write about them honestly and fairly.

Ethicist Kelly McBride, of the Poynter Institute, suggests journalists can report on these topics successfully if they develop some basic knowledge and skills.Under basic knowledge, McBride includes:

•The Law (state and local)•Technology (these can range from feeding tubes to complex machines designed to sustain life)•Special populations (babies, youths, the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill)•Disease-specific information (each disease has its own complications, questions and progression) •Research (studies, reports)

Sources: Find out who studies the disease or situation with which you are dealing, whether it is a disease or an end-of-life issue.

Compassion: Erin Hoover Barnett, in a discussion with McBride, noted that writers enter private space when they report on disease, disorders and dying.

“When you cover someone’s dying days,’ you are becoming part of their story and you are influencing how their family remembers that person and his or her death.”

Jacqui Banaszynski, Seattle Times editor and University of Missouri journalism teacher, won her Pulitzer for the series, AIDS in the Heartland. She focused on a gay couple struggling with the pending death of one partner.

She spent weeks with the couple and was as strongly affected by the death as a family member. In several presentations, she has spoken about the experience, which shook her and made her a stronger writer.

Poynter ethicist Bob Steele relates the following about the reporting of that 1987 story:

Reporting this story created a fine line for a journalist to walk. It was made all the more difficult as Jacqui and Jean realized the personal connections that easily develop when one is immersed in the lives of those being covered. "When we came to the farm we'd get big hugs and pumpkin pie," Jacqui remembers. There was a good side to that, a solidifying of a relationship that spoke of warmth and trust. But there was also a concern, one prompted by Jacqui's continuing role as a journalist. "I'd say 'beep-beep, reporter alert,' and remind them what I was doing."

(http://www.poynter.org/dg.lts/id.5588/content.content_view.htm)

Now an editor, Banaszynski has become a go-to person for advice about covering death. She said "timing and treatment" are the keys to dealing with victims' families and deciding what photos and information to use in stories.

"At some point they seem to want to talk. They want a chance to bring their loved one back again for a moment, to put words and memories to that life. People in grief are locked in a stage of remembering. I seldom find them loathe to share those memories if approached with sincere openness and sensitivity and professionalism."

Back to McBride’s list

Tenacity is an important asset when covering disease, death and disorders. McBride notes there is a perception people don’t want to read about death and disease. In fact, both are part of the human condition and transcend all of the social fault lines.

A gift for translation is key. Death, dying, disease and disorders have specific terms and phrases. The writer has to make sure everything is accurate, but also understandable.

McBride reminds reporters, even during difficult assignments, to remember their watchdog roles. There are misstatements and misinformation in any field. The reporter has the chance to “shed light on muddled, confusing issues.”

Revisiting empathy and compassion:

When Felice J. Freyer wrote about victims of The Station nightclub fire in Providence, R.I., she said she “worried about all the tears.” Everyone was crying.

“My purpose was not to write about tears, nor elicit them, but to tell the story of the extraordinary effort put forth at Rhode Island Hospital to save victims,” she wrote in a 2003 essay for the Providence Journal’s “Power of Words” program.

She focused on her mission and found people were very willing to share stories. Though she had to interview staff members in groups, she found they built on each other’s stories and the inherent drama and emotion came through.

Providence reporter Lynn Arditi often writes about sudden or tragic death. She has found “pictures are a great bridge in these situations.”

Photographs give survivors a launching point for anecdotes and descriptions. Such material provides depth and dimension to stories.

I once wrote about a 6-year-old who died suddenly of a flu virus, a rampant infection that defeated her little body. I interviewed her mother in the living room, with a laundry basket of freshly folded clothes nearby. The little girl’s clothes. She kept reaching in and picking up a pair of socks, separating it, then refolding it as she spoke. The gesture was heartbreaking and provided a moving moment in the story. And I cried during that interview, listening to this grieving mother talk about her child.

Columnist and Pulitzer winner Tad Bartamus once wrote a story about the drowning death of a family of boys.

Her lead said “there was so little left.” Indeed, she noted refrigerator art children scribble without thought that it might be the last thing they do. She set the tone of loss immediately and poignantly.

Writing about children’s deaths is probably the most difficult part of death and dying coverage. Their deaths sear, especially in small communities. Again, the key is to treat the family with respect, and let them know why you want to write the story.

Most times, they want to talk. I wrote about a 2-year-old sprite who died in a freak car crash. I met the family at their home and they regaled me with tales of that child for more than two hours. The stories were wonderful and the family laughed as much as it cried. So did I. The story drew tremendous response from the community.

Journalists take on a significant obligation when they talk with family members of disaster victims. There is an implicit pledge to report fairly, compassionately, and ACCURATELY.

Banaszynski says. "Often the doorway to getting a richer profile ... is the simple but journalistically essential effort to get obituary information right.”

Courtesy of The Poynter Institute

The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma offers these tips for writing about victims of disaster and trauma:

Focus on the person’s life.Always be accurate.Use pertinent details that help describe the victims as they lived or provide images of their lives.Avoid unnecessary gory details about their deaths.Avoid words and terms such as “closure,” “will rest in peace,” “shocked community.” Write simply and clearly.Use quotes and anecdotes from relatives and friends.Seek current photos of the victim and return them to the donor as quickly as possible.

Constantly think of the ethics involved in reporting.Ask

What does the public need to know?

How much coverage is too much?

What is the saturation point?

How do you put the story in perspective?

Whether in news, public relations, on the Internet or an alternative form of journalism, writers covering trauma, death and disaster need to take care of themselves.

Know your limits.Take breaks.Find someone to talk to.Learn to deal with the stress, and recognize when you can’t.Understand that the job, and your problems, can be overwhelming.

Journalists, especially those who cover disasters, war or repeated crimes against people, can develop post traumatic stress disorder. It’s not uncommon.

The Dart Center quotes Ernie Pyle, a World War II correspondent, on his reaction to his work:

“I’ve been immersed in it too long. My spirit is wobbly and my mind is confused. The hurt has become too great.”

If you find yourself feeling like Pyle, seek professional help. Your emotional health is more important than the story.

The obligation to be fair and accurate is especially strong when reporting on executions. Watching someone die, either from age, illness or injury, is very different from watching someone being killed.

There is a need to tamp down personal thoughts and biases, to be ultra-observant, to gather as much information as possible and to report it clearly and levelly to both the readers and to other reporters in the pool who did not witness the execution.

Reporters who witness killings, whether from terrorist attacks, war or federal- or state-ordered executions, should realize they may need time and help to process their thoughts and feelings afterward.

They are witnessing a traumatic event. They may not realize the impact immediately.

It’s important to prepare, if at all possible, for what you will see. And it’s important to debrief afterwards.