Be a listener, a witness and a voice for the unheard. Police shooting stories usually feature a hero and a villain. An Insider series made the behavioral healthcare system the villain.
by Hope Kahn and Valentina Graziosi, National Press Foundation

It’s hard work, but it’s an honor. Haven Orecchio, senior criminal justice reporter for Insider, said it was hard to find the emotional strength to continue writing stories like those she produced for her six-part series “Survivor’s Guilt,” about police-related killings of mentally ill individuals and how it devastated their families. But Orecchio believes journalists have a duty to honor those affected. Many families talk to reporters because they see an opportunity to speak on behalf of relatives struggling with mental illness. “You’re their voice,” she said. “They want to have the opportunity to let the world know about their loved one, more than just that they were the victim of some sort of atrocity or harm.”

Be cautious with sympathy. When a journalist’s beat centers on loss, trauma or tragedy—as most criminal justice beats do—it’s virtually impossible to remain emotionless, Orecchio said. And when a story strikes close to home for a reporter, personal trauma can be unearthed. That’s why Orecchio said journalists should be judicious about sympathizing—or empathizing—with sources. During reporting, if she feels emotional, “Maybe I’ll have a sip of water, or I’ll ask the source if that’s a good time for them to take a break. But I will never explain how I’m feeling to the source.” Orecchio said she respects the decision of reporters who do choose to share personal anecdotes in order to gain trust, but argues that journalists aren’t responsible for managing their source’s emotions. “I want to remain a witness and a listener more than anything else,” she said.

Use solutions journalism techniques. For the “Survivor’s Guilt” project, Orecchio said she employed a solutions journalism model. That entails rigorous and compelling reporting about how individuals and communities are responding to social problems, as opposed to mere descriptions of entrenched societal problems, which can lead audiences to despair. Her first calls were to advocacy groups combatting police violence. She then talked to psychologists and others in the mental health field. Orecchio said that audiences may like black and white stories that have a clearly-defined hero or bad guy, but she saw the stories of moms grieving their murdered children as an avenue to expose a larger issue. “In police shootings, there quite often is a victim and a villain. But in my series, it was really the behavioral healthcare system that was the villain,” she said.

Be transparent with your sources. If you’re asking people to tell you about the worst thing that has happened to them, Orecchio said, you should be as open and honest as possible about the process. “I like to tell them whether or not it’s going to be a few hours or a quick couple-day turnaround, or if it’s something that comes out months from then,” she said. Orecchio also tells her sources that while she gains important information from almost every conversation she has, not every story will be featured. But she never promises her sources that her reporting might change a policy or that they’ll benefit from speaking with her. “I have no idea that they are going to feel better, and they might actually feel really awful when they see it in print,” Orecchio said.

Take care of yourself. Self-care looks different for everyone, Orecchio said—and she admits she’s not the best person to offer advice about it. “I still tend to go a really long time covering horrible stuff without stepping back and thinking, ‘Okay, how is this affecting my mood or my relationships or my behavior, and ultimately my journalism?’” But when work is tough, Orecchio takes an afternoon walk, finds a new spot in the city or goes on a weekend outing. Talk about it with your editors, your friends and your family, she said. “Be aware of your work and how it’s impacting you because it’s not only important for your own well-being, but also for your journalism.”

Speaker: Haven Orecchio, Senior Criminal Justice Reporter, Insider

Takeaways, transcript and resources: [ Ссылка ]
Widening the Pipeline fellowship: [ Ссылка ]

The Widening the Pipeline Fellowship is sponsored by the Evelyn Y. Davis Foundation, Bayer, J&J and Twitter. NPF is solely responsible for the content.

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