McLuhan fellow highlights responsible storytelling in trauma journalism
鈥淚 think of trauma journalism as an attempt to make the public imagine. You cannot move, you cannot care, if you cannot see,鈥 said Patricia Evangelista, 2019 Marshall McLuhan awardee and multimedia journalist of Rappler during the Marshall McLuhan Forum Series on Responsible Media, January 23, 2020 at the 扒哥黑料 Multi-Purpose Room.
Patricia Evangelista, 2019 Marshall McLuhan awardee and award-winning multimedia journalist of Rappler, talk on 鈥淐overing Trauma: Reporting for the Imagination鈥 at the Marshall McLuhan Forum on Responsible Media, January 23 at 扒哥黑料 (SU).
Evangelista specializes in reporting disasters, conflicts and development issues, such as human rights, extrajudicial killings, the reproductive health campaign, among others.
In her lecture on 鈥淐overing Trauma: Reporting for the Imagination,鈥 Evangelista shared how she uses narrative reporting when writing about trauma.
Evangelista said journalists should be able to know enough details to write a narrative, which means having several sources, diligence in seeking comments and thorough note-taking to include all sensory elements.
鈥淣arrative reporting is built on research. You can鈥檛 tell a story if you don鈥檛 know enough to make it come alive,鈥 she said.
Survivors and witnesses of trauma, said Evangelista, must be approached with care, respect and kindness.
鈥淭he rule of thumb is to ask yourself how you want to be treated and try to treat them the same way,鈥 she added.
Evangelista emphasized the importance of asking for consent before, during and after interviewing survivors and witnesses so that they are aware of their right to refuse to be published.
Evangelista also warned journalists on 鈥渃onfirmation bias.鈥
鈥淏e carefully skeptical of heroes and villains, even if they鈥檙e the subjects of your stories. Allow for contradictions [and] exculpatory evidence, even if it disproves the narrative you thought you knew,鈥 added Evangelista.
Safety on the field, working with a newsroom or team, and self-care are also important for journalists covering traumatic events, said Evangelista.
She also reminded the audience that journalists cannot promise anything to trauma survivors except to tell their stories the best they can.
Panelists during the Marshall McLuhan Forum at SU (L-R): Roi Anthoni Lomotan, Philippine Information Agency-Negros Oriental聽 information officer; Mary Judaline Flores-Partlow,聽 Philippines News Agency-Dumaguete bureau chief; and Jameela Antoniette Mendoza, SU Office of Information & Publications editorial assistant.
The forum series is an initiative of the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines, held annually throughout the country to recognize excellence in Philippine journalism.
鈥淲e see this annual forum as an opportunity to continue to underline our priorities with the belief that a responsible and free media is very important in a democratic society,鈥 said Carlo Figueroa, public affairs officer of the Embassy of Canada.
The Marshall McLuhan fellowship, said Figueroa, is on its 22nd year of awarding Filipino journalists who excel in the field of investigative journalism.
Aside from the McLuhan fellowship, Evangelista has also received national and international recognition for her documentaries and long-form multimedia reports, such as the Agence France-Presse Kate Webb Prize for exceptional journalism in dangerous conditions; the Union Catholique Internationale de la Presse鈥檚 Titus Brandsma Award for Emergent Journalism; the Ten Outstanding Young Men in Nation’s Service and Ten Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service for Journalism, among others.
She is a fellow of the South East Asian Press Alliance, the Dart Center Ochberg Fellowship for Trauma Reporting and the 2018 John Logan Nonfiction Fellowship at the Carey Institute for Global Good.
Evangelista was also a fellow of the SU National Writer鈥檚 Workshop in 2006.
Students, mostly from the SU College of Mass Communication, attended the forum.
(Photos by Kyle Andree Bolhano)
