by Dr. Deborah Bauers

Created on: April 29, 2009   Last Updated: June 06, 2011

Knowing how to interview victims of traumatic events with compassion is essential to making certain that you do not, unwittingly, retraumatize an individual who is already suffering from exposure to a critical incident. Depending upon how you handle your interview, you can either provide the opportunity for the victim to gain emotional support through telling his story or exploit his pain by dispassionately putting your story ahead of his feelings of horror and grief .

Suppose you are with the journalistic team from the local news channel covering a fire in a downtown high rise apartment complex. Like all the other media on location, you've got one eye on your camera crew while the other scans the crowd for a story in the making.

Someone in the crowd yells out to no one in particular, "Hey, see that lady over there crying? Her kid's inside that building!"

Your adrenaline surges and excitement mounts as you elbow your way through the crowd. This may be just the story you want. But is shoving a microphone in a frightened and traumatized mother's face an ethical way to go about getting it?

"Ma'am, I understand your daughter may be trapped inside. What goes through the mind of a parent at a time like this? Would you care to comment?"

Stop Tape. Take a step back. If you temper your desire for a story with empathy for your subject, you will seriously think about how you plan to interview any victim of a traumatic event.

An individual who is suffering as the result of a critical incident is at risk for acute stress. Whether or not such a person is able to recover and move on with life within six months to a year of the trauma depends a lot upon what happens in the first twenty-four hours after the traumatic event. As a journalist, you can either play a role in offering compassion and comfort to a victim, or add further suffering and be the catalyst for secondary trauma; either way, you'll get your story.

Let's be pragmatic for a moment. You are a journalist. You don't want to be insensitive, but you do have a job to do. You want to get the facts and share a story that will engage your audience. The place to start, however, isn't by pummeling a victim with questions, especially questions that will prematurely force the individual to face the full impact of the unfolding event.

So, how do you approach with sensitivity? The best way is to begin with a verbal affirmation that demonstrates your awareness of the pain

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>