John McNamara, Wendi Winters, Rob Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman, Rebecca Smith
How do you recover when your newsroom comes under attack? What do you do when your entire newsroom becomes the story?
Those were two of the questions facing the Capital Gazette after a man shot his way into the newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, and killed five people.
Publisher Trif Alatzas says the Baltimore Sun Media Group that owns the paper has provided counseling and brought therapy dogs to the newsroom to help survivors cope with the trauma.
“People are getting the help they need,” Alatzas told the 2018 Excellence in Journalism Conference. But he admitted that at first, his focus was entirely on the newsroom, even though one of those killed was a sales assistant. “We didn’t realize until days later that the sales staff was affected, too,” Alatzas said.
Another lesson learned: The paper recognized that another mass shooting was inevitable and knew to prepare for the next one, which would be hard on the newsroom. “We didn’t think about the one after that,” Alatzas said. Now, everyone is aware that any mass shooting will have ripple effects on staff who survived the trauma.
Alatzas says the Gazette took security seriously before the attack, but “the guy forced his way in.” Since then, the company has added armed guards and shatter-resistant film on the windows at all of its newsrooms. “It’s important that employees feel safe,” he said.
Bruce Shapiro, executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, says survivors need to acknowledge their fear and how it affects them.
“The more we can do to be in control, the better prepared we are for what can’t be controlled,” he said.
He also urged journalists who have experienced trauma, whether directly or from covering the horrors of mass shootings and disasters, to get help right away. “PTSD left undiagnosed and untreated gets worse over time,” he said. “If you need help, get help. There is no downside.”
One final lesson: “Solidarity among journalists matters a lot,” Shapiro said. “When our profession is under attack, if we don’t stand up for our colleagues it emboldens the attackers. That’s very damaging.”
Journalists need to stand up for their profession, Shapiro said. “The need to be objective and fair is not at odds with defending the values of the craft and our colleagues.” In fact, he said, it’s a way of building preparedness for an ongoing crisis like the one we’re facing now.
