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Other articles in the RAP 21 Newsletter n° 73/2002:
The Business of Newspapers
Effective ways to measure and evaluate editorial
Newsletter n° 73
THE BUSINESS OF NEWSPAPERS PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

Supporting crime reporters to improve their professionalism

As crime reporters are often overworked and lack resources, the South Africa-United States Fulbright Commission organized a workshop in South Africa to help journalists deal with the psychological trauma of covering violent crime

The main goal of the SA-USA Fulbright Commission is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of South Africa through educational, cultural and professional exchange.

The workshop was facilitated by American experts from the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma of the University of Washington, and Colorado’s Journalism School.

The lack of support for crime reporters has dramatic consequences, says Wiida Fourie from the Technikon Pretoria Journalism School, which underwritten the initiative.

For example, an assistant editor at The Sowetan, the biggest daily in South Africa, "admitted that at one stage he had to leave journalism for the corporate world because he could not take it any more. He also said that this was the first time that anybody had acknowledged that journalists could be suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome or depression, and that nobody has ever offered them any help," says Ms Fourie.

Another example was "one crime reporter who covers a particularly violent part of Johannesburg, the East Rand, who was in tears after he showed us the story he did on a father who first hanged his two-year-old son and after that himself. He admitted he has never been the same after that story," says Ms Fourie.

Wiida Fourie says it appeared during the workshop that "female editors have an influence in acknowledging that journalists may be affected by what they report and get help for them."

Debbie Yazbeck, the chief photographer at The Star daily (circulation of 168,500), agrees.

She says support from editors encourages crime reporters to do a better job. "I have called Robin (Comley, her immediate editor) in tears when my cameras have been stolen in a riot and her response was ’get out’ no picture is worth your life. With the knowledge of her support behind me it made me more determined to track my camera down and complete the job. I did this not only for myself but also for Robin as an individual and not as a representative of the newspapers management," she says.
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