“Watch a bad movie.” Beat reporters have learned some simple, effective strategies to help deal with the trauma of covering traumatic events

In June 2023 I was sitting in a bar in the Philadelphia suburbs, trying to file an 11 p.m.story about a teen who’d been shot by police in the city a few days earlier. I’d just left his funeral, and the images of his open casket, his friends’ sullen gazes and his parents’ wrenching eulogies were making it hard to write. 

Plus, I was exhausted — I’d been reporting for five hours and the adrenaline was wearing off.

I hadn’t wanted to be at the funeral  — I prefer to give space to the grieving — but my editor assigned me, and so I went. During the casket viewing, the deceased teen’s girlfriend confronted me and asked me why I was there. I said, “The family’s attorney invited me.” She just stared. 

I tried hard to make myself invisible for the rest of the night.

At the bar, I wished I’d just left. I felt intrusive and extractive and wholly unlike myself. It’s a feeling psychiatrists sometimes call “moral injury.” It used to be used mostly for veterans, but it’s been more recently applied to journalists who stray from their own values for the sake of the work. 

This feeling comes up a lot for reporters on the gun violence beat, because of the immense amount of pain that the majority of our sources are grappling with when they speak to us. 

Whether we’re covering police killings, mass shootings, firearm-related domestic violence, neighborhood shootings or firearm suicide, we’ll inevitably be faced with difficult decisions about how to treat people experiencing trauma. It’s a lot of weight to carry.

Plus, traumatic imagery is an everyday part of the job. During my 18 months as a gun violence reporter I witnessed a man pull out a gun at a public gathering, saw bullet holes, bloodstains and other evidence of shootings at victims’ homes, and interviewed at least a dozen mothers and grandmothers who’d lost a child to gunfire. I can recall multiple stories on police killings where I had to watch video footage on loop to ensure I was describing the details correctly.

Whether we’re covering police killings, mass shootings, firearm-related domestic violence, neighborhood shootings or firearm suicide, we’ll inevitably be faced with difficult decisions about how to treat people experiencing trauma. It’s a lot of weight to carry.

Most reporters who cover gun violence have seen a lot more than that. We try to leave it at work, but sometimes it’s not that simple.

Afea Tucker, community engagement reporter for The Trace, is a Philly native who has lost family members, friends and neighbors to gun violence.

“I’m no stranger to the devastation and effects that gun violence has, not just on the individual but also a family and a community,” she said. “It never really turns off for me. I think I just learn how to manage it.”

Sometimes that means taking a long lunch break, or doing something that inspires joy.

“Maybe sit outside, go to the Home Goods after work and buy something sparkly for my kitchen. Bring back the ‘feel good’ inside of me, those are some of the things I do when it’s overwhelming,” she said. 

She also made sure to find a newsroom where she could do deeper-dive reporting. She and other Trace staffers cover the root causes of gun violence instead of focusing on shootings as crime stories. This has helped reduce the stress that some gun violence journalists feel around whether our work makes a positive impact.

Tucker also spends a lot of time talking to people about what gives them hope.

“I know that I’m doing something that’s purposeful, and the news organization I’m working for is dedicated to being solutions-based,” Tucker said. “It’s doing the best job you can do in the position that you’re in.”

Yvonne Latty, director of Temple University’s Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting, often speaks publicly about the toll of covering gun violence. She was a daily crime reporter in Philadelphia for two decades.

What makes the beat unique, she said, is how it requires reporters to be active listeners with people who’ve experienced a lot of trauma.

“You’re a therapist in a no-win situation, because it’s not like this is your client and you get to take them through a dark place. You’re just there for that time, and that’s it,” she said.

She reminds reporters that journalism can be a powerful tool for healing. 

“It’s such an honor and privilege to be able to talk to people and maybe be a comfort for them,” she said. “I always think it’s good to have them talk to a journalist and get it out.”

When hearing these stories takes a toll on reporters, Latty recommends yoga, meditation, workouts and reading (light subjects only).

“Watch bad television,” she said. “Everything doesn’t have to be serious. You could watch The Bachelor or whatever stupid thing you want to watch. It’s really important that you’re not always living in that space.”

A few additional tips from me and other journalists covering trauma:

1. Vary your coverage

If you’re on a long-term project about a traumatic topic, don’t be afraid to ask your editor for a day or two of doing quick-turn pieces on something totally unrelated. (i.e., while I was making a podcast about sexual assault, I picked up a weekend shift a and wrote a farmer’s market story).

2. Make a strategy for imagery

Have a routine for going through violent photos and video. I like this DART Center worksheet on Handling Traumatic Imagery: Developing a Standard Operating Procedure

3. Transition before you go home

Find a way to put space between your workday and your home life, whether that’s hitting the gym, taking a walk, or cooking a meal. Listening to music or an audiobook, or talking to a friend on your commute, can help with this. 

4. Compartmentalize

It’s OK to put your phone or laptop down for a while and spend a chunk of time (a weekend, for example) focusing on something completely separate from your work life. It’s OK to tell friends who ask you about work that you’d prefer not to talk about it when you’re off the clock. Continue to remind yourself who you are when you’re not in reporting mode.

5. Ground yourself 

Deep breaths go a long way. You can do a guided meditation, or just count on your own. Here are some tips and resources from Headspace.

A team of journalists I’m part of recently launched the Association of Gun Violence Reporters to help provide mentorship and peer support to people who touch on this beat. Reach out to us at journalists@pcgvr.org, or find us here:

• Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/assocgvr/
• BlueSky: https://go.bsky.app/TYansSn
• Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1715222082386570

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Cite this article

Caiola, Sammy (2025, Jan. 7). Gun violence isn’t going anywhere. Take care of yourself so you can cover it. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/gun-violence-isnt-going-anywhere-take-care-of-yourself-so-you-can-cover-it/