Our names are Kendell Bardenhagen and Amy Campbell, and we’re undertaking our graduate semester of journalism at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

 

At the start of this essay, we posed the question: Why is empathy in journalism important in 2016?

 

We chose to explore this issue because we’re concerned that it’s something the media has forgotten. As highlighted in our video, 2016 has thrust a chain of ill-fated events our way, and journalists have struggled to balance objectivity and emotion while reporting. Prompted by an article by journalist P. Kim Bui, we set out to explore what kind of effects bringing a greater sense of empathy to journalism could have on reporters and newsrooms.

 

But quickly, we discovered our definition of empathy in the news was widening, to include more than the reporters presenting it. A new dawn in social news gathering by Alastair Reid asks a pertinent question: as the media relies increasingly on citizen journalists for eyewitness information, how should journalists “approach people who are, in that moment, scared for their lives?”

 

Quickly, we reached our contention: if the reporting of trauma and tragedy is to improve, not only do journalists need to look after themselves, but they must also remember to approach every person included in the formation of a story – from sources, eyewitnesses, victims and colleagues – with a renewed sense of empathy. If we make a concerted effort to report like this, we might just invite A turning point for trust.

  

After speaking with Cait McMahon, psychologist and managing director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma in the Asia Pacific, we learned that when working as a journalist, the reality is tragedies will happen. Almost all journalists will face trauma at some stage in their career, and research shows that these incidences will have an emotional toll.  

 

We raised the issue with our classmates recently, and we were amazed to see the discussion it incited. We weren’t the only ones concerned about the quality of trauma reporting, and the effect it’s had on newsrooms and the wider community. “What about the cameraman?” One peer questioned, “what about what they have to see?”

But this conversation had us inspired. If we can start the conversation in our classroom, we think we can continue it with like-minded people and journalists just like you or I. For empathy to be restored not only within our newsrooms but to the stories we present and those they involve, we need to talk.

 

It’s time to move forward. As soon-to-be journalism graduates, we believe the only way a journalist can feel better about delivering a challenging story, and then letting go of it at the end of the day, is through conversation. It’s time to break the silence surrounding emotion in the newsroom.

 

In hope of inspiring journalists to open up about their anxieties and experiences, and to share ideas around how we can better incorporate empathy into journalism, we’ve decided to conclude this journey with a forum. We hope it will become a place where, at the end of the day, you can come and share personal experiences, grief or joy. 

Here, we invite you to talk about the scenes you saw today. The stories that might have rattled you, and how it was that you handled them.

 

If the creation of this platform achieves anything, we hope it will be in the form of a small discussion. Because from small things, big change grows. Let’s not make empathy important just in 2016, but let’s make it important for every year to come.

 

The conversation starts here.

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