Just hours after the tragic shooting of 27 victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Twitter was overloaded with messages slamming reporters for interviewing children involved in the tragedy. While some of the journalists probably knew better but wanted the story at all costs, others were rookie reporters facing ethical decisions for the first time, unaware of the impact these interviews might have on the young survivors.
Past studies have documented that new journalists can cause problems at the scene of tragedies because unnecessary intrusions can traumatize victims. But research from Concordia University proves that journalism students can be prepared for these ethical issues before they face the shock of an actual event.
The new study by Concordia researchers Linda Kay, Rosemary Reilly and Elyse Amend, published in the Journal of Mass Media Ethics, proves that simulation is an effective training tool that can teach rookie journalists ethical behaviour before they report on a traumatic event.
Kay, who chairs Concordia’s Department of Journalism, first presented the idea of using simulation training at a conference in 2008. “Educators were very interested in the idea and wanted more information about how it would work,” she recalls.
Study co-author Reilly, an associate professor in Concordia’s Department of Applied Human Sciences, notes that "this is a perfect example of the interrelationship between research and teaching – how one informs the other and vice versa.”
Amend earned a Master’s in Journalism Studies in November 2011.
To find suitable guidelines for a simulation experience, the research team first set out to find what kind of ethical issues reporters face today. They created a focus group of seven journalists working in television, radio and print with experience ranging from three to 30 years.
These reporters highlighted the four major ethical decisions they commonly face at distressful or traumatic events: understanding their role at the scene, getting the story versus respecting the needs of victims, learning the limits of meeting job obligations, and properly navigating on-the-job training.
Though simulations are not new as a teaching tool, they have been rarely used with journalism students. In their study, the researchers identified specific guidelines to ensure these simulations would create believable events that young reporters might face on the job.
At one such simulation, in which participants had to report on an art gallery fire, one student remarked afterwards: “I would have to say in all honesty that it was the best two hours of university I’ve had yet.”
Classroom simulations give budding journalists a safe place to explore the ethical issues they might face on the job and to try out various behaviours and their consequences.
“There’s a growing awareness in the journalism teaching profession that students need more preparation,” says Kay. “Trauma is such a huge issue now and it can be harmful to all if a young journalist is just thrown into the situation to learn on the job.”
Related links:
• Department of Journalism
• Department of Applied Human Sciences
• Linda Kay’s Research @ Concordia Profile
• Rosemary Reilly’s Research@ Concordia Profile
