Description
Book SynopsisThou shall remain objective is the number-one newsroom commandment, but lately cracks have begun to appear in the news media''s objective façade. American journalists have been pushed to the emotional brink with such recent tragedies and September 11th and Virginia Tech. Like social scientists, reporters are expected to be immune to, and even aloof from, the pain and suffering they chronicle. Daring to Feel: Violence, the News Media, and Their Emotions challenges this journalistic mandate, particularly as it pertains to the emotional topic of violence. Interviewing journalists who have covered some of the worst tragedies in our nation''s history, Jody Santos shows what happens when the news media dare to feel. No longer detached observers, they are free to see violence in all of its emotional complexity. In allowing themselves to experience the rage, helplessness and fear of those who have survived violence, these reporters tell deeper, more moving stories-stories that hopefully
Trade ReviewDaring to Feel is a bold, brave book. Jody Santos challenges the entrenched doctrine that journalists are neutral, dispassionate observers of "fact." Santos demonstrates how journalists themselves and society as a whole benefit from emotionally nuanced and emotionally engaged reporting. This is a beautifully written tribute to the passion of journalists and the heart-wrenching stories they cover. -- Rebecca Campbell, Michigan State University
Table of ContentsChapter 1. Stuck in Neutral: Violence and the News Media's Objective Mandate Chapter 2. Getting Engaged: The History of Emotional Reporting Chapter 3. From the Heart: The Benefits of Being Emotionally Invested Chapter 4. It's Personal: Gender, Medium, and More Chapter 5. Feeling the Pain:The Emotional Risks of Covering Violence Chapter 6. Road to Recovery: Finding New Ways to Talk About—and Heal From—Violence
