Trauma in the field: a reporter's view

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Trauma in the Field: A Reporter’s View

Alex Norwick

Submitted as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in
Journalism

University of Southern California

Copyright 2013

1
Table of Contents

Script .....................................................................................................................................2

References .............................................................................................................................6

2
SFX: Air raid siren.

ANCHOR: London,1940. Edward Murrow steps out of a church with a portable microphone
during a German air raid.

MURROW: This is Trafalgar Square. The noise that you hear at the moment is the sound of the
air raid sirens. I’m standing here just on the steps of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

ANCHOR: Edward R. Murrow was a pioneer of broadcast journalism. He revolutionized combat
reporting during the Second World War by broadcasting events as they happened. While Murrow
was able to paint a compelling picture for his American audience, the risks he and his colleagues
endured were numerous. Reporters could experience shell shock, what is now referred to as Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Symptoms include severe anxiety, flashbacks, and feelings
of guilt and can persist years after witnessing a traumatic event. Even today, in light of the
advancement in reporting technology, war correspondents are still at risk for developing PTSD.
Brian Rooney, a correspondent for ABC during the Iraq War, experienced a mild form of PTSD.
But it wasn’t until he returned to the United States that he recognized some of the symptoms.

ROONEY: I came back unmotivated and didn’t want to work and wasn’t interested in anything.
And you realize after a while that’s because the excitement has gone away, the danger of dying
has gone away. But that takes some perspective to realize that’s what that is all about. And it
wasn’t until years later that I realized, oh, that’s what that was.

ANCHOR: The onset of PTSD occurs after witnessing or participating in a traumatic event. For
reporters like Rooney, exposure to trauma in a war zone is a common yet unsettling experience.
In spite of this, reporters are expected to overcome any emotional toll they may feel.

ROONEY: I had one day when there was a triple car bombing and 35 children were killed in
Baghdad and it was just horrific. We went to the hospital and we were walking on blood trails
and we go into the wards and all these kids are there with their families. And I had a hard time
getting script approval that night, and at 2 in the morning Peter Jennings says to me ‘Sorry we
didn’t get to you, we were talking about tomorrow’s election coverage.’ And if I could have
crawled down a phone line and killed somebody, I would have. They just had no thought or
consideration for what the people in the field were going through.

ANCHOR: While newsrooms are aware of the dangers that can happen in the field, the
counseling services they offer do little to alleviate PTSD. This often leaves reporters on their
own when coping with symptoms. According to a 2009 study by the International Center for
Journalists, acknowledging stress is critical for overcoming PTSD. But as Rooney points out, the
newsroom environment does little to facilitate that process.

ROONEY: Later in the game when I was there they would bring in some psychologist and we’d
have these meetings in the bureau and talk about it. But there was no follow up. When you
actually went and had what could be a disturbing experience, nothing was done and certainly
nobody you were reporting to in New York ever gave a hint they knew what you were going
through.
3

ANCHOR: Rooney recognizes it was his decision to report in a war zone and that he was the one
responsible for his own well being. But for reporters looking to climb the network news ladder,
mental health is not often a priority. Richard Reeves, a historian and journalism professor at the
University of Southern California, explains how reporters use war to advance their careers.

REEVES: When you were a young reporter one reason you wanted to go and cover wars was to,
as they say, get your ticket punched. To move up in the organization you had to have certain
experiences. War and Washington were the two biggies. So ‘Why is he in Vietnam?’ ‘He’s
getting his ticket punched because he’s trying to become editor or whatever he’s trying to
become.’

ANCHOR: But getting the ticket punched has a cost. Reporters must be able to file stories on
time, even when they encounter life-threatening situations. On account of this, it is critical to
establish relationships with the inhabitants of a war zone.

REEVES: Part of being a correspondent, any correspondent but more in a combat zone, is who
do you trust? If you watch coverage of Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, both the military and the press
are being deceived by people. But it’s very hard to pin that down if you don’t know the local
culture or have a reason to trust an informant.

ANCHOR: As a result, correspondents must be comfortable operating in an unfamiliar
environment where anything can happen. As Reeves indicates, many war correspondents in the
last 40 years have turned into thrill seekers.

REEVES: Nothing is as exciting and adrenaline building than being shot at in combat. And there
were a significant number of reporters who were addicted to covering combat. Nothing else
could compare in their minds. There were some guys who never wanted to see it again, but there
were others who would go from war to war.

ANCHOR: Carol Williams has covered several wars for the Los Angeles Times. After reporting
from the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, she covered the Soviet War in Afghanistan
and later the War on Terror in Iraq. Facing danger on a daily basis, she compared her work to
that of a soldier.

WILLIAMS: It’s dangerous. You have to learn how to move and get to the people you need to
interview without putting yourself in too much peril and that’s something that’s really hard to
have any kind of institutionalized plan for dealing with. You’re out there trying to figure out
who’s at risk, where they are and where they’re going and how to negotiate the story without
getting yourself killed. It’s more like a soldier’s duty than a journalist’s.

ANCHOR: Williams encountered insurgents on several occasions, including on the road while
traveling and once when they tried to storm her hotel in Baghdad. But that didn’t stop her from
pursuing the stories of those affected by the war. While more than 70 journalists were killed in
areas of conflict in 2012, Williams acknowledges that fear is the most inhibitive force to
reporting.
4

WILLIAMS: I do worry that because there have been so many casualties among media in recent
years that there’s been an entrenchment of reporters who are over-seas. You can’t avoid every
dangerous situation or else you’re not going to get to the story. It doesn’t make any sense to go
and hunker down in a hotel somewhere where you’re not able to talk to the people who are
victims of the conflict or perpetrators of the conflict.

ANCHOR: Even if correspondents are drawn to work in a field where danger is always present,
they are not immune from developing PTSD later on. A study from the University of Toronto
found that one out of every four war correspondents suffers from PTSD. That number is just shy
of the 30 percent of Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress. Susan Lindau is a Los Angeles-
based clinical therapist who helps clients with trauma. Using cognitive and behavioral therapy
processes, clients can begin to understand the nature of their trauma. She explains that recovery
is not about overcoming PTSD, but rather controlling it.

LINDAU: Our work is several stages. And the first stage is like a movie running where you can’t
stop the movie. And then we get to the place where it’s like a DVD and you can put it on pause.
And then as you get stronger, it’s more like snapshots. You can remember that picture but you
can put the snapshots down. And then when you have completed the process, it’s like a book in
your library of the mind. It’s going to be there, it’s never going to be erased, but now you can
bring it down if you need to, want to, but it’s not always there.

ANCHOR: Even if clients do not experience anxiety or flashbacks, they may be subject to
survivor’s guilt. This is why Lindau finds it important for correspondents to talk about what
happened in the field and how witnessing a traumatic event is no fault of their own.

LINDAU: People who come from a stable background where they have survived a lot of other
intense experiences may be strong enough to get through this without having a lot of residual
effects. But at the same time it’s important to debrief, to talk out the experience, to understand
that they were strong enough to survive and they did a good job, they did what they were
assigned to do in the field. And I’m talking the same way you would talk to a military combatant
as well.

ANCHOR: Since the experiences of each individual are different, the treatment process can
range from several weeks to several months. Clients will even check in with Lindau years after
they have completed the process to make sure they have control of the memories. In reflecting on
the history of treating PTSD, Lindau believes individuals are more willing to address their
psychological and emotional needs.

LINDAU: You think back on your grandparent’s generation and how those men who survived
World War II were much quieter and kept a lot of secrets and didn’t talk about the war
experience. These days it’s much more legitimate to talk about the war experience because
we’ve got a label for the intensity of that experience. We now have legitimized this as a
diagnosis that can be treated.

5
ANCHOR: Looking back, treatment was never an option for the stoic reporters like Edward
Murrow. Knowing the dangers that reporters still face in the field today, they might be surprised
to know a whole new profession has evolved for treating those with even the most severe trauma.

Outro: Music from Murrow broadcast.

Time: 10:40

6
References

Feinstein, Anthony, John Owen and Nancy Blair. “War, Journalists, and
Psychopathology.” The American Journal of Psychiatry. Vol. 159, No. 9.
(2002) Web.
“Journalists Killed in 2012.” Committee to Protect Journalists. n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2013.
“Life in a Blackout in the City of London.” CBS. London. 24 Aug. 1940. Radio.
Lindau, Susan. Interview. 13 Mar. 2013.
Potter, Deborah and Sherry Ricchiardi. Journalism and Trauma. Washington:
International Center for Journalists, 2009. Print.
Reeves, Richard. Interview. 01 Feb. 2013.
Rooney, Brian. Interview. 28 Nov. 2012.
Williams, Carol. Interview. 05 Dec. 2012.

Asset Metadata

Creator Norwick, Alex D. (author)

Core Title Trauma in the field: a reporter's view

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Journalism (Broadcast Journalism)

Publication Date 10/01/2013

Defense Date 09/03/2013

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,PTSD,war correspondents

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Advisor Muller, Judy (committee chair), Reeves, Richard (committee member), Seib, Philip (committee member)

Creator Email adnorwick@yahoo.com,norwick@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-333272

Unique identifier UC11296517

Identifier etd-NorwickAle-2071.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-333272 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-NorwickAle-2071.pdf

Dmrecord 333272

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Norwick, Alex D.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This thesis, in the form of a radio documentary, examines the psychological trauma experienced by war correspondents. The objective of the piece is to see if reporters are still at risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and how treatment methods have changed over time. The method for completing the research was carried out by interviewing historians, former and active journalists, and clinical therapists. The results indicate that in light of the advancements in reporting technology, war correspondents are still at risk for experiencing PTSD.