The ability to tell trauma stories are integral to the news and any well-functioning society. But sometimes traumatic events, such as sexual violence, street crime, armed conflict or natural disasters, can defy our ability to find the worlds for them. This is true both for victims and survivors caught up in these tragedies and for us, as journalists, when we are trying to form our questions.
This workshop will examine the hidden life of the interview. It will look at what trauma is and focus in on the advanced interviewing skills that are often neglected in standard journalism training. How does one encourage a victim to accurately relate the story of a violent attack in all it is terrible detail without making it worse for them? And what does it take for a journalist to sit opposite someone in distress and to faithfully capture the experience of somebody who may feel that the outside world couldn't care less?