The Trauma Beat: A Case for Re-Thinking the Business of Bad News by Tamara Cherry
In The Trauma Beat, Cherry shows how desperately we need to restructure the way we (journalists and people at home) treat traumatic death and events in the media – all the while providing the exact sources and resources that will help in making change stick. She interviews current and prior members of the press, surviving families of those who have died in traumatic events, and at points those who have directly survived the event itself, as well as providing extracts from other trauma-based academic research, to create a thorough, insightful argument for the need to ‘rethink the business of bad news’ – by no longer seeing it as just business.
What stands out most of all in Cherry’s work is that she’s making actual suggestions on how journalism can be improved, with evidence on how beneficial these changes would be. Often in work relating directly to trauma and crime studies, a lack of self awareness stops a non-fiction writer from ever suggesting anything that would actually be beneficial for survivors of trauma; survivors are treated as spectacle. In Cherry’s work, she shows a passion for protecting and uplifting the voices of those survivors who desperately want to be heard and understood, but also respects those who wish to be left alone, and uses every part of her work to show how we can do better across the board to protect people when reporting on traumatic events.
Cherry discusses her own failings as a journalist, moments where she didn’t follow up with surviving families and should have, moments where she forced herself into homes to get the story and perhaps made things worse. She’s honest, as are all of the other members of the press in their interviews. It reinforces the need for trauma-conscious journalism, training at the first stages of journalism school and maintaining training throughout. There’s also an interesting insight into the trauma responses journalists and photographers also have working for police, newspapers, and independently, who are called in to and bare witness to trauma every day for years with no follow up check on their mental health. Cherry’s argument is that trauma-conscious journalism will help not just families and survivors but the people who also front the news we see.
In terms of form and style, there is a certain level of repetitiveness to the chapter structure due to how interviews are integrated, but it’s not a massive issue. Cherry is very adept at ensuring that all her bases are covered when reporting on traumatic events without it feeling exploitative or dismissive of any one perspective or story, and while some parts are longer than others, there’s always a reasoning behind it, and nothing feels underexplored by the end.
In a world of ignorance, Tamara Cherry and the work she has dedicated herself to feels like a glimpse of hope that things can change for the better.
I received an e-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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