CHAPTER Ⅲ: METHODOLOGY
3.3 The Interviews
3.3.3 Interview Questions
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(8 interviewees)
3.3.3 Interview Questions
Antonovsky put Comprehensibility, Manageability and Meaningfulness, the three facets of SOC as the required elements in his scale for predicting health, and improvement of the three senses are indicators of a tendency to health. Because the stronger the sense of coherence, the greater the tendency to identify the nature of the particular stressor confronted and select the appropriate resources for the given situation.
When designing the questions for in-depth interview (see Appendix 1), journalists’
change on the three facets helped me to find out whether there is a positive tendency for their reactions to trauma. The three facets could be taken into account as approaches for making the interview fit to the topic. On the basis of the three dimensions, I asked a few questions about covering tragedies and disasters.
Reviewing the definitions that Antonovsky set for Comprehensibility, Manageability and Meaningfulness; and the explanation of the three McMahon(2008) gave for pointing out SOC could used for journalists gaining resilience after covering disaster , I put the three as follows.
Form 3. Basic formulation of interview questions
Dimension Content
Comprehensibility The change on the awareness about trauma stimuli in covering work or in their work environment.
Manageability The change on the helping resources they perceived, on the
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perceptions of the demands of training and some change on their covering behaviors such as the preparations, coping strategies, and interview strategies.
Meaningfulness The change on the meaning for covering tragedies.
Others Suggestions for the workshop and attitude to training.
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CHAPTER Ⅳ
ANALYSIS & DISCUSSIONS
In the interviews, the questions I asked to these journalists were aiming at their change on the perception to covering trauma after getting some information about trauma in journalistic work. There are concerns about the interviewees may give more perfect answer for they just want to fit the expectation behind the project - the workshop is useful or the question I made give them some hints. What I did for the reliability of the data I got and how I selected data for use would be express as follows.
The interviews before the workshop were focusing on journalists’ covering experience about disasters or tragedies and what they thought more difficult in the covering process. The interviewers except me also other two students, and through the interview, I didn’t mention about trauma and its impact in my questions.
I only took the 8 journalists who attended workshop and received the after-workshop interview as my main research population, asked them questions about their attitude and feedbacks about the workshop, also the covering experience in the past three months (between the two interviews) and does it have any change? From the data I got, I collected their change on the awareness to the trauma because of the workshop. And as these journalists I interviewed worked together, sometimes they would talk about others’ change, and through their sharing about others I would have chance to double check the reliability for the change I heard from individual interviewee.
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4.1 Overview
Literatures showed that as other first responders, journalists may have some stress injuries from their traumatic assignments and also some kinds of workshops or interventions have been developed for dealing with the kind of stress injuries. Debriefing is the most common intervention for first responders to deal with their “injury” from interacting with people in grief or directly exposing to some traumatic facts without artificial polish. But one-shot debriefing just after specific incident is not enough in practice. A more comprehensive practice for dealing traumatic stress from work incorporates the pre-incident education as inoculate prevention. And these educations are recognized positive for coping, as it builds more strength and reduce the impact with a timely awareness.
For journalists, traumatic stress injury is not only affect their own, as interacting with victims is part of their daily job and they have a responsibility to convey news to public, the stress injury on them and the possible effect from the injury may influence people they cover and the public through their articles they wrote or news video they filmed. With concerning with the influence of traumatic stress on journalists may extended to the public and victims, emotional literacy training and a training for better tragedy covering have be applied to journalists and being an approach for arousing more awareness about possible stress injuries from their assignments. The belief behind these training is that the awareness can help for finding out more effective coping strategies to specific situations.
Trauma literacy training for journalists is aiming to raise more awareness about trauma among journalists, understandings of others’response to trauma, and how to present trauma in a harmless way to victims, and potential victims – audience and journalists themselves.
Awareness for trauma can assuage posttraumatic distress and reduce the possibility of intergenerational transmission; disclosing trauma and creating coherent narratives of
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traumatic experiences facilitates mental and physical health (Goldsmith, 2004).
For knowing about what would change after delivering a workshop about trauma literacy, I used the three components of sense of coherence (SOC) as an approach to analyze the change. The main reason for not measuring the effect by existed psychological scales is that there have many unknown factors would lead to different changes and following reactions.
Many research about SOC evaluated the effects or correlations by different SOC scales, or scales incorporated SOC components comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness.
SOC is often put as an indicator for a tendency of being health or a capability for decision making while facing stress. But here I used the concept of SOC in another way.
In Antonovisky’s initial research for being curious of why some people stay healthy after severe hardship, pointed about the belief on the three dimensions as factors associate with health, the SOC was regarded as more comprehensive than related concepts, such as self-efficacy for considering the perceived reality and perceived ability in cognitive, instrumental and emotional dimensions (Frankenhoff,1998; Antonovsky, 1993). And moreover, in Frankenhoff’s (1998) opinion, building strength based on the needs or status in the three dimensions could be a inoculate intervention for stress in social work practice. I was wondering whether the training of trauma literacy would be proved to bring some positive changes on the three dimensions. Therefore, I used the three separately as parts of a framework to observe the change on the three dimensions.
Dispatched journalists in Taitung have a more flexible time schedule and closer connection to local people and local authorities. For these journalists, even they work for different media; they sometimes are more like colleagues and in a cooperate relationship.
Discussing these journalists’ change on the Comprehensibility, Manageability and Meaningfulness of covering tragedies after a trauma literacy workshop helped me to
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understand whether trauma literacy did help or not. Whilst the comprehensibility component represents the cognitive dimension of the SOC, the meaningfulness component represents the emotional dimension. The instrumental or resource dimension, in turn, is represented by the manageability component of the SOC (Antonovsky, 1996).
4.2 Comprehensibility
Antonovsky’s (as cited in Bengal et al, 1999:26) definition about Comprehensibility is that recognizing stimuli deriving from one’s internal and external environment in the course of living are structured, predictable and explicable. And McMahon and McLellan (2008) defined Comprehensibility in their research which is about how awareness and education made journalists have a better response to trauma, they pointed out that Comprehensibility comes from individual’s internal schemas, and put it as personal depositions of events and life scripts. Here I defined Comprehensibility is the change on the awareness about trauma stimuli in covering work or in their work environment.
4.2.1 Original Awareness about Emotional Burden
Before the workshop, the pre-workshop interview gave me some insights about their awareness for the stimuli which arousing trauma or the possible motional burden from their assignments. During the period of interviewing 21 journalists before the workshop, and initiated by questions such as: “In your experiences of covering tragedies /disasters, what make you unforgettable?”, ”What is difficult to you when you cover tragedies/disasters?”, and
“After covering traumatic incidents, were these covering experiences influence your life?”.
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Awareness to Emotional Burden
Most journalists responded to the first interview for not admitting they had lasting emotional burdens from covering tragedies, and they often ascribed negative emotion to covering as some inevitable emotional fluctuations rather than burden. They thought that the
“emotional response” to the tragedies they cover, to the victims they pay sympathy with wouldn’t last for a long time, and these emotional reactions were not problems and just parts of their job.
The time for response is short and all they keep in mind is finishing their job. As respondent K, a TV journalist who has 15-year experience shared,
Respondent K:”… when you was on the scene, first you faced were bodies, families and then the cordon… ”.
Journalists can witness birth, aging, illness and death in a single day, and that make fluctuations on their emotions. They don’t have time to think when things happen and they have to pay attention to other coming news in a short time after covering. Often, in a rush of covering stories, journalists put their personal feelings aside and don't think of how these traumatic covering may affect them in a long run.
It didn't mean that they think these traumatic events they witness and covering had no impact on them. In fact, if the news they cover have some links with their own life experiences, journalists would have more feelings toward the stories and people involved. But as one senior press journalist, respondent O shared his feeling to covering a death about a little girl, he said that:
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Respondent O: “I have a child who was in the same age as the girl, how can I don’t feel sad? But should I tell others I was sad? No, I should do my job first… but I am not cold blood, the experiences I have enhanced my immunity toward these traumatic scenes.”
And respondent F, a TV journalist who has 15-year experience thought that he could recognize that his emotion was influenced when covering victims, but the emotion had gone while he leaved the scene, and also he would find some way actively to transfer or vent stress or the contaminated emotion from the covering.
Stress from Covering Victims
As a start for figuring out what’s their real demands for future training. What are the difficulties they perceived when covering is an important question. When asking them about the difficulties they face, some journalists reported that approaching to the families in grief is really a tough job.
Respondent F: “The response from families of the victims may give us more stress… sometimes our covering may hurt them more. But as it is my job, I have no choice”.
Journalists not only have an anxiety for fear hurting people, but worry about being condemned by their interviewees, even sometimes the condemnations are not rational.
Respondent F: “For me, the emotional harm also comes from being condemned by
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my interviewees; especially when they condemned me without really look through my article.”
The condemnation may become a resource of stress, because it made journalists as persecutors to victims and being blame for hurting people in grief.
In fact, as respondent A said in honest that when he tried to be in the shoes of disaster victims, he would say dirty words when being forced to say something. He thought the constant covering may keep influencing the victims’life and make them hard to get over and have real relief.
Compared to TV journalists, some press journalists I interviewed showed fewer responses to the trauma issues and the workshop, because some press journalists thought they have comparatively less chances to go to the incident scene. Respondent J, a young journalist who have only three-year experience, just use less directly trauma exposure as a reason for not thinking that he has some negative emotion toward the covering. Journalist J said that he would do some psychological preparation before covering traumatic events and his
“preparation” is deciding that not to see the body and if it is necessary to see the bodies, just give a glimpse instead of look it in detail. But after a few questions in the same interview, he gradually thought of that the sound of crying from victims’family once made him feel really sad, even the sound is not loud. It happened when he did a follow-up story about a year after a police’s death, and the wife of the police described the life in the year.
Respondent J : “I feel sad when she answered with tears… even not cry a lot... as a bystander, I couldn’t do anything for her.”
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Even J didn’t think he would have negative emotion to his covering after the recollection, but the wife with tears still in his mind.
In spite of some sad emotions, some interviewees noted that the profession itself makes them always on alert and in a status of searching news, and the habit of searching news may give them different concerns when witness to a tragedies, they seems be more “ cruel but under a coat of being rational” which comes from respondent A’s remarks. Always being on alert is a burden they regard as an occupational disease, but hard to tell it is either positive or negative. Also as F said that:
Respondent F: “… being a journalist, I think the profession has its occupational customs, when we are witness to an accident, as an instinct, we would instantly think whether it could be constructed as a news story.”
4.2.2 What has Changed on Comprehensibility
After the workshop, journalists recognized what is trauma and have started to search the possible trauma stimuli in their life, and factors which creates stress or pressure on them. And the findings are as follows.
Socialization is not enough
People all have some weakness even they look strong. Respondent D, a TV journalist, work for a free to air national TV station for many years, said that he used to believe that people can be strong by socialization, and the process of socialization is enough to help them
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to find out some ways to deal with traumatic situations or not get hurt. But after the workshop, he changed his thought,
Respondent D: “(in the workshop) I was a little reminded of… even a strong person, also has the same feeling or weakness just as a normal one, the strong one may just hind his weakness or choose not show it up, but it doesn’t mean that he won’t get hurt … ”.
Awareness connected the stimuli and responses
D said that learned the facts about trauma in the covering work did help. He used a metaphor to describe why it is helpful. There are many reasons to cause the light off; it may caused by the problem of the light bulb or the regional power off. And to the situation, there are different approaches for seeking help as well, to the plumber or to the power company.
Without a knowledge based on examination of causes, people may make useless effort and still can’t find the way out. In the interview, D said that:
Respondent D: “I feel that knowledge or understanding itself is a power, it helps you to understand what’s going on. And in the future, when you face the same situation or recollect the past experience, it also gives you strength to gain resilience and relief. You finally know that why you have these feelings, and recognize these feelings are not special, abnormal and which makes you feel shameful… it is just a human feeling.”
The awareness about trauma for D is a new experience, for him didn’t think about that before. he has have a more positive attitude for the new-gained awareness, and thought that
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based on the knowledge he could be more prepared for the coming challenge about facing traumatic stress from assignment, because he know why and how he would be influenced from covering trauma news, also as he noticed it is an issue, he could found out some appropriate strategies to deal with that or at least he would feel he have more strength to the problem by understanding.
Another journalist B, who is also a TV journalist for 9 years and now works in public media feel the understanding helped him realized how he was influenced by the trauma from assignments, he said:
Respondent B: “… after the workshop, I found out I have some hidden trauma… I would not think that covering disaster would make me hurt before, but after workshop I found that I did recollect the traumatic images sometimes and that is a trauma to me… ”.
Especially, B also found out he was impatient with his family and had bad temper during a period of constantly covering crime news, “I thought I had trauma at that time” B said. He also shared that understanding the fact of trauma could help him to know what’s going on and whether it influenced on them.
Respondent B: “I would start to notice what causes trauma and the fact that covering cause trauma as well … and figure out how I could deal with these trauma… I would reflect on the connections between the traumatic scenes and myself, and start to think of how can I obviate the trauma or make resilience… at least create a heal procedure to the next trauma”.
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But the awareness about trauma had a different effect on different people, some like B and D who recollected the ignored trauma memories and have started to find out the problems and influence these brought. Instead, another TV journalist E with 14-year experience has became more easily to forget the impressed trauma covering.
E was surprised at that, because when I interviewed him about his past experiences about covering trauma before workshop, he jokingly said he would feel trauma for the recollection, complaining that the scene he almost forgot came back in his mind for my request and he would need some time to forget again. Three months later, in the second interview, he felt he would more easily to forget trauma memory than before. E didn't know why, even his colleague gave a reason for that during the second interview that he leave these behind for he has to raise 9 people and the heavy burden makes him have no time to think. But E didn't think so because “the burden is the same before or after workshop” (Respondent E). The three cases show that awareness about trauma brings different effects, but to these journalists no matter the recollected or the one who forgot, they regarded these as positive change for them.
Moreover, even like respondent I, a senior press journalist and also a regional chief of his newspaper, didn't identify with he has the trauma problem which the workshop raised, but that make respondent I have a concept about the demands of other journalists and respect the problem. He said that:
Respondent I:” even I don’t agree with it for I don’t feel like this, but it made me know that other journalists’may have the problem. ”
The insensitivity extended to the private life
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Respondent C, a young journalist with 7-year experience said that after the workshop he
Respondent C, a young journalist with 7-year experience said that after the workshop he