Announcements

Registration: here

What is trauma, what effect does it have on people?

How to communicate ethically literally and safely with vulnerable groups?

How to make the right choice between human stories when talking about community, collective trauma?

Self-care before performing traumatic tasks․ How to prepare?

How to be a more compassionate colleague?

How to deal with traumatic images and online violence?

These are challenging times to be a journalist in Armenia. The corona-pandemic, the recent violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the pressures placed on journalists by the passions whipped up by the polarising effect of social media all make for a potent combination.

What it takes for journalists to work effectively and safely on stories that deal with trauma, violence and personal tragedy?

The Public Journalism Club organizes a two-part seminar within the framework of the “Rapid Response Fund Initiative” program, which is an opportunity to find the answers to the above-mentioned questions.

The workshops will be led by Gavin Rees and Angelina Fusco, expert trainers from Dart Centre Europe. 

The Dart Centre is a project of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. It is dedicated to informed, innovative and ethical news reporting on violence, conflict and tragedy.

The Dart Centre is recognised as the pre-eminent international body specialising in the relationship between trauma and journalism. It works around the world providing resources to journalists and filmmakers working on the most challenging stories, be that reporting on crime, family violence, natural disaster, war or human rights.

One of the trainers is Gavin Rees who is a Senior Advisor for Training and Innovation at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. Since 2008 he has been working as a consultant and trainer for newsrooms, media-support organisations, and journalism schools across Europe as well as in Africa and the Middle East.  Previously, Gavin produced business and political news for US, British and Japanese news channels, and has worked on drama and documentary films for the BBC, Channel 4 and independent film companies. Gavin is a board member of the European Society of Traumatic Stress Studies and the UK Psychological Trauma Society.

Another trainer Angelina Fusco is Chair of Dart Centre, Europe and one of its associate trainers in journalism and trauma.  Angelina, who lives in Belfast, spent thirty years as a journalist in the newsroom of BBC Northern Ireland, half of that time as Editor of Television News. She led teams covering the conflict in NI and some of the most politically complex, editorially challenging and sensitive stories in Western Europe.  Angelina also worked as a senior trainer at the BBC’s prestigious College of Journalism, working with senior staff from the BBC and other news organisations from around the world.

The core themes of the workshops:

4 March, 16:00 – 18:00. Part 1

• Trauma: what it is and how it affects people
• Interviewing: working ethically and safely with vulnerable sources and contributors
• Story telling: making good choices when covering community trauma
• Self-care on traumatic assignments: the preliminaries

11 March, 16:00 – 18:00. Part 2

• Overview: countering the impact of intimidation and harassment
• Practical steps for handling traumatic imagery and online abuse
• Self-care on traumatic assignments: in greater depth
• Being a supportive colleague

The workshop will offer opportunities to share professional insight, to brainstorm practical and ethical dilemmas, and take away ideas that can be shared with colleagues.

Don’t miss this opportunity!

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More details about the program here.

The program will cover the period of December 2020 – May 31 2021. The project is funded by the European Endowment for Democracy (EED).

In case of additional questions and/or for details, you can contact the Public Journalism Club NGO via the following telephone numbers or e-mail:

 

Saryan 12, 3rd floor, Yerevan, Armenia

Phone: +37412 755898, +37499 755 898

Email addresses: [email protected], [email protected]