Ink-stained stress

>> A Montreal journalist sets up a self-help group for traumatized colleagues

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Between groovy images of military hardware, talking heads and self-searching "Why O why did this happen?" pieces following the September 11 attacks, we also hear or read of coping with the tragedy. Counsellors, shrinks and psychologists are flocking to the disaster sites and the homes of grieving relatives to comfort the hurting, the stunned and the overwhelmed, sometimes with a media crew in tow. Tears flow, hugs are exchanged, and life goes on.

Except for those reporting on the hugs, or the attacks, or the latest airplane crash, bombing, mass shooting, earthquake, fire, flood or car crash. For a profession that is as close to the daily parade of horrors as journalism, there is a distinct lack of support for those on the front line witnessing it firsthand.

Robert Frank, a 44-year-old Montreal native and stringer for the New York Times, first realized the effects covering gruesome stories has on reporters about three years ago. "It began with the Swiss Air crash in September 1998 [off Nova Scotia]," he says. "I was very surprised. I only noticed on the plane ride back that journalists were being traumatized and I thought maybe it was a one-off thing. But when I went to Denver a couple of months after Columbine, I realized it was neither imagined nor a one-off incident."

Frank then began investigating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eventually created Newscoverage Unlimited, an organization whose mission is, according to their Web site, to "help news people who experience trauma as part of their work." Incorporated last November, it was recognized as a charity in the U.S. in July, and held its first training session that month in Memphis. The organization will be holding a talk on October 4 in Montreal, called "Aftershock: Taking the Trauma out of Covering Tragedy."

"This was planned before the attacks [on Sept 11]," he says. "There is a certain tristesse when talking about Columbine. It captivated the U.S. and the world. But now it seems we've lost all sense of proportion."

When asked whether he thinks trauma counselling will be even more necessary following the Sept. 11 attacks, he says, "I think it is fair to say 'exponential growth' is an understatement."

However, he does not think it will be as much the journalists who reported the disasters from what is now referred to as "Ground Zero" as for the reporters who covered the tragedy from a local angle in their respective hometowns across the States. "It's easier to rationalize bits and pieces of debris," he says. "But when you go to [the victims'] homes, and you see their family members and family snapshots, you share their grief. It can have a more profound effect because you are seeing what was lost."

Another contributing factor to PTSD among journalists, Frank admits, is self-imposed. The traditionally macho environment of the newsroom frowns on journalists showing any kind of emotion when covering a story.

"The culture is very strong in news circles. You still have people saying that people are weak or have some kind of other mental disorder, or poor judgement, or are foolish, or they're shirking. And the short answer to that is none of the above."

The event is sponsored by the Montreal chapter of the Canadian Association of Journalists. It is limited to journalists and students.