News reporters covering a violent or traumatic
event may experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),
a condition that could lessen their ability to treat victims
of tragedy with empathy and respect, according to one expert.
"Some of us have the kind the kind of brain that's going to
keep horror alive," said Dr. Frank Ochberg, a pioneer in the
study of victims of violence. Ochberg, a professor of clinical
psychiatry at Michigan State University, shared his findings
on the potentially debilitating effects of PTSD on journalists
in a talk at Old Main Chapel in October.
The talk, sponsored by the School and the student chapter of
the Society of Professional Journalists, was the second in a
series of discussions involving coverage of the April 20 massacre
at Columbine High School that resulted in the shooting deaths
of 15 students, including the two shooters.
In the audience were journalism students, faculty and professionals.
Some had covered the Columbine shootings -- the students while
working for CNN, as interns for area newspapers and for "NewsTeam
Boulder," the School's twice-weekly cable television show.
Ochberg told them PTSD is triggered by "one horrifying event
that we either witness or get intimately involved with."
A second cousin to battle fatigue, the condition that keeps
horror alive for war veterans, PTSD symptoms include numbing,
avoidance and anxiety, Ochberg said.
Sometimes reporters may also experience a condition Ochberg
called compassion fatigue. It occurs when the reporter "feels
the pain of another person and is not able to let it go," Ochberg
said.
He said compassion fatigue can make it more difficult for the
journalist to get the story for fear of further traumatizing
the victim.
"You want to write something that is real, and you want to interview
somebody. But by the very nature of the interview, you are destroying
something private and sacred. You feel guilty about that," he
said.
"If you are able to destigmatize the victim's experience, I
think that helps a lot," he said. One of the ways to help is
to understand that victims of violence experience a lot of shame,
Ochberg said.
"If you are a recipient of human cruelty, you often feel ashamed
and humiliated, not angry," he said.
Ochberg also said reporters need to be educated about Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder in order to recognize the symptoms in themselves
and to understand that they may be interviewing people who are
vulnerable to lasting effects from the trauma they have experienced
or witnessed.
The vulnerability to PTSD is as variable as people's personalities,
Ochberg said.
If reporters can understand that, he said, the next step is
to approach the victim of violence with empathy and respect.
"Introduce yourself," Ochberg said. "Say to the person you want
to photograph: 'I know this is private, but can I get a picture?'
There are people who benefit from seeing this transition from
chaos to hope," Ochberg said.
Ochberg said a person doesn't have to be "in harm's way" to
suffer the effects of PTSD. Indeed, the disorder's name is derived
from its nature of secondary contact, he said.
PTSD begins with victims experiencing "nightmares, flashbacks,
the unwanted recollection, the searing visual elements of horror
and terror," Ochberg said.
Then there is a "numbing, emotional amnesia and a belief that
I won't have as long a life," followed by shakes, shivers, adrenaline
rushes and other psychological symptoms, he said.
"The body is preparing for disaster," Ochberg told the audience.
The psychiatrist said it is important for journalists to be
debriefed after a traumatic event. The result is higher morale
and higher self-esteem, and therefore better reporting.
"Journalists exposed to overwhelming catastrophe may need mandatory
debriefings," Ochberg said, adding that media managers need
to buy into the need to debrief their reporters.
"The commitment has to be made at the top. The next generation
of journalists must be trained in a better way."
Ochberg said journalists should talk to each other about traumatic
events they experience.
With the help of a family foundation, Ochberg helped launch
training programs at several journalism schools designed to
teach young journalists how to cover traumatic events and deal
with their own stress. He is working to set up an e-mail network
for schools and journalism groups.
Ochberg has offered to facilitate an off-the-record meeting
in which Denver reporters and media managers and Columbine High
School teachers and administrators could hold in-depth discussion
about the coverage of the Columbine shootings.
"In some way we are all working with trauma and cruelty, and
it helps to have compassion and understanding to cross boundaries
of race, ethnicity, experience, age, profession and gender,"
he said.
The School plans to develop a unit for its newsgathering classes
on covering traumatic events and dealing with victims.
