The Trauma Beat
A Case for Re-Thinking the Business of Bad News
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A groundbreaking and thorough examination of the trauma caused by the media covering crimes, both to victims and journalists, from a respected journalist and victim advocate
In The Trauma Beat, an eye-opening combination of investigative journalism and memoir, former big-city crime reporter Tamara Cherry calls on her award-winning skills as a journalist to examine the impact of the media on trauma survivors, and the impact of trauma on members of the media. As Tamara documents the experiences of those who were forced to suffer on the public stage, she is confronted by everything she got wrong on the crime beat.
Covering murders and traffic fatalities to sexual violence and mass violence, Cherry exposes a system set up to fail trauma survivors and journalists. Why do some families endure a swell of unwanted attention after the murder of a loved one, while others suffer from a lack of attention? What is it like to have a microphone shoved in your face seconds after escaping the latest mass shooting? What is the lasting impact on the reporter holding that microphone? The Trauma Beat explores these issues with the raw, reflective detail of a journalist moving from ignorance to understanding and shame to healing.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Mixing elements of memoir with the investigative journalism that made her career, a hardened crime reporter takes on the impact of the media in this stunning non-fiction book. What hurts more: Being the victim of a crime or suffering under the scrutiny of the microphones and TV cameras that follow? That’s the question former Canadian crime reporter Tamara Cherry asks as she re-examines her own career in the industry and the effect it’s had on the public and herself. Cherry skilfully depicts how journalists approach sources from ambulance drivers to shooting victims, exploring the devastating effect the media glare can have both on trauma survivors and the journalists who cover them. We were impressed with the scalpel-sharp precision Cherry brings to her subject matter, always citing numerous sources like the seasoned professional she is. The Trauma Beat is an important wake-up call both for those who consume the news and those who report on it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former crime reporter Cherry (All the Bumpy Pebbles) examines the emotional harm the media causes for both victims and journalists in this thought-provoking study of true crime. Cherry details both her own experiences with reporting-related PTSD and those of the 71 violent crime survivors whose stories she highlights throughout. She writes of Kim Hancox, who watched her police officer husband die on live TV hours before she was officially notified; Amy O'Neill, who survived the Boston Marathon bombing only to see it play out repeatedly on the news; and the moments immediately after a school shooting when a still-shocked teenage survivor had microphones shoved in her face. The author is careful, too, to offer examples of outliers: a hockey player who was sexually abused by a coach felt the case's extensive media coverage helped him heal. "Trauma reporting is important," Cherry concludes, "but the stakes of it are so incredibly high, and the line between doing good and inflicting harm is so incredibly thin and wobbly." Her research and reporting is thorough and empathetic, and she makes a convincing case for centering the feelings of victims and survivors in stories of violence and tragedy. This is a revealing take for journalists and true crime junkies alike.
