The Trauma Beat

The Trauma Beat - #7 - Arlene Stuckless

Toronto homicide victim John Wheeler was technically an uncle to Arlene Stuckless, but given their close birthdays, they were always more like siblings.

In this conversation with host Tamara Cherry, Arlene discusses her experience with the media in the immediate aftermath of John’s inexplicable homicide, from watching the investigator release John’s name on live television, to an interview with someone on scene, and another with someone who was purporting to be closer to John than he actually was.

Arlene discusses the harm that came from conflicting details being reported about the homicide — from the number of shots that were fired, to the part of the body John had been shot in — before her family received official information from investigators. She also discusses the positive experience she had with the media, thanks to the support she received from the lead investigator.

Further, Arlene speaks about the impact of consuming media coverage of other shootings.  “It takes you right back to that initial moment when you heard your loved one was murdered,” she says. Arlene discusses the impact of various elements reporters commonly use to illustrate their stories — be it a video of paramedics working on a homicide victim, or a picture of a traffic fatality victim covered with a blanket.

In addition to speaking about what worked (and didn’t) with the media, Arlene speaks more broadly about the experience of becoming a homicide survivor. “I think what would have probably been helpful is if someone who had already been through it could have been there to say, ‘Hey, you know, I’ve been there. I know what you’re going through.’”

As per trauma-informed practice, each guest in The Trauma Beat podcast is afforded the opportunity to review and veto a list of anticipated questions before the recorded conversation. Ongoing, informed consent is sought throughout the production process.

This conversation was recorded in March 2022.

The Trauma Beat - #6 - Shauna Brown

Shauna Brown was the first person on scene after losing her son, Demal, to gun violence outside their home. It was July 23, 2017, and in the days that followed, she and her family members felt like prisoners in their own home, not even able to go outside to have a moment in the spot where Demal died because the media was gathered.

Shauna speaks with host Tamara Cherry about how cognizant she was from the very early days of how the narrative of her son’s homicide could play out in the media. She didn’t want him to be remembered simply as another young Black man murdered in a high-priority neighbourhood. She also didn’t want the focus of stories to be on his past run-ins with the law, or the fact that he was “known to police.” Shauna speaks about the harm that comes from this common narrative.

Shauna also speaks about the importance of notifying Demal’s young daughter of his death before investigators released his name publicly, and shares valuable advice for journalists about their responsibility to take care of survivors not only during interviews, but during and after the storytelling process as well. She shares the story of one interview she granted a journalist, during which she shared personal details and pictures of her son, only to be told the story would not run.

Also discussed is the impact of media coverage of other homicides. “It brings me right back to that place,” she says. “Lack of motivation, lack of energy, just that hopeless feeling physically. There’s also that, just the anxiety, the tension, the lack of sleep…and the list goes on.”

This conversation was recorded in March 2022.

For more trauma-informed journalism resources, visit pickupcommunications.com.

If you'd like to be a guest on the show or inquire about sponsorship opportunities, please email contact@pickupcommunications.com.

The Trauma Beat - #5 - Jan Canty

As a psychologist, author, and host of a podcast called Domino Effect of Murder, it goes without saying that Jan Canty knows a thing or two about trauma. But her expertise in the area of surviving traumatic events is also rooted in her own journey: In the 1980s, her husband, Alan Canty, was murdered.

Jan’s first contact with the media came when her husband was still considered missing, not murdered, when she reached out to a local Detroit radio station in an effort to find him. When Alan’s death was confirmed days later, the media attention exploded to a sensational level.

In this episode, Jan speaks with host Tamara Cherry about the long-lasting impact of that sensational media coverage. “It was more harmful than helpful,” she says.

Jan speaks of the fear the media invoked in her, and the frustration she felt from misinformation being reported. She recalls feeling exploited as she was faced with a television camera just moments after identifying her husband’s mutilated remains.

Jan discusses the impact of trauma on the brain, including how it can impact a survivor’s ability to tell their story. She also describes the impact of perpetrators being described in a “positive” light and how that can pressure otherwise reluctant survivors to speak publicly.

Jan Canty is the author of A Life Divided: A psychologist’s memoir about the double life and murder of her husband – and her road to recovery and What Now?: Navigating the Aftermath of Homicide & Suicide. Her podcast is Domino Effect of Murder. (To find Jan’s books and podcast, check out her website: jancantyphd.com)

As per trauma-informed practice, each guest in The Trauma Beat podcast is afforded the opportunity to review and veto a list of anticipated questions before the recorded conversation. Ongoing, informed consent is sought throughout the production process.

This conversation was recorded in March 2022.

For more trauma-informed journalism resources, visit pickupcommunications.com.

If you'd like to be a guest on the show or inquire about sponsorship opportunities, please email contact@pickupcommunications.com.

The Trauma Beat - #4 - Vesna Cikovic

As a young boy, Boris Cikovic fled war-torn Bosnia with his mother for a safer life in Canada. As a teenager, he was fatally shot while hanging out with friends in a Toronto park. It was October 3, 2008. Boris was an only child.

“It’s not just a story,” Vesna Cikovic tells host Tamara Cherry in this conversation about the impact of the media after the death of her son. “I mean, it’s a big question of how that survivor is going to cope with life after this.”

Vesna speaks about the last hours of Boris’s life, the phone call she received from his friends saying Boris had been shot, and the experience of going to the hospital to identify his body. She recalls the media arriving at her home the following day and calling her at the funeral home, even though she wanted to be left alone. She also recalls one media outlet reiterating harmful comments from an investigator that implied Boris was to blame for his own homicide, and the harm that came from the language that was used to describe his son’s accused killer.

Vesna speaks about the “shell shock” she suffered in the immediate aftermath of Boris’s death, how this state of mind continued for several months, and the gaps in memory she continues to have from that time. She also reflects on the conundrum of journalists needing to speak with survivors in order to tell their story, and the importance of many survivors being left alone.

Vesna speaks about the problem of parents constantly having to defend their murdered children by describing them as “good” kids. She also discusses the positive impacts the media had on her, including the support she received from various journalists who followed the case through the criminal justice system. “At least somebody was listening,” she says.

As per trauma-informed practice, each guest in The Trauma Beat podcast is afforded the opportunity to review and veto a list of anticipated questions before the recorded conversation. Ongoing, informed consent is sought throughout the production process.

This conversation was recorded in March 2022.

For more trauma-informed journalism resources, visit pickupcommunications.com.

If you'd like to be a guest on the show or inquire about sponsorship opportunities, please email contact@pickupcommunications.com.

The Trauma Beat - #3 - Angela M.

In 2017, Illinois high school teacher Angela M. subdued and disarmed a shooter in her school’s cafeteria.

In this episode, Angela speaks about the “overwhelming” media attention she received in the immediate aftermath of her traumatic event. She had reporters waiting outside her home, and calling and emailing her repeatedly.

“It wasn’t about helping people,” she says in conversation with host Tamara Cherry. “It was, ‘What stories can we get out of this?’”

Angela recalls one particularly upsetting interaction with a journalist several months later, in which she had consented to an interview on the condition that the reporter not ask her about the shooting, only to have the reporter blindside her with those off-limits questions.

Angela also talks about the impact of trauma on the brain; why the element of surprise is such a big deal for trauma survivors; and the harm that comes from the hierarchy that society creates around traumatic events. “You don’t tell a rape victim, you know, ‘Get over it. You were raped. Get over it.’ Why do you tell us, survivors, you know, ‘Nobody died. You’re okay. Get over it.’”

As per trauma-informed practice, each guest in The Trauma Beat podcast is afforded the opportunity to review and veto a list of anticipated questions before the recorded conversation. Ongoing, informed consent is sought throughout the production process.

This conversation was recorded in April 2022.

For more trauma-informed journalism resources, visit pickupcommunications.com.

If you'd like to be a guest on the show or inquire about sponsorship opportunities, please email contact@pickupcommunications.com.

The Trauma Beat - #2 - Rachel Maurice

Rachel Maurice was 16 years old when she survived a mass shooting at her high school in Santee, California.

In this episode, Rachel speaks with host Tamara Cherry about her experience with the news media in the hours, days, and years after the shooting that took the lives of two friends and injured several others. As with survivors of many incidents of mass violence, Rachel was confronted by reporters and photographers immediately after fleeing the place of her traumatic event. Media were camped outside her school — located across the street from her home — for several weeks after the shooting, and returned many times after they left. The media also had an impact on Rachel’s mother, who was approached by media while she anxiously waited to reunite with her daughter.

Rachel provides valuable insights for both journalists who cover traumatic events and victim service providers who are supporting survivors in the aftermath of trauma. She also speaks about how trauma can present itself in different ways with different survivors.

Following the recorded conversation, Rachel passed along a note for added context regarding her comments near the beginning of the conversation about the moments she was escorted away from her school. Before leaving the school, Rachel explained, she had a gun pointed at her. As she was being escorted off campus, she saw a news camera with a long lens pointed at her. That long lens, Rachel explained, resembled the barrel of a shotgun. Years later, seeing the photo of her exiting the school with her arms up activated her trauma responses.

Further, around the time of this recording, Rachel heard news of another incident of mass violence. She wrote: “Just hearing about it has made me relive mine again and again. Fortunately I have a therapist that helps me when these incidents occur, but there are many survivors who do not have that kind of access to behavioral health assistance.”

As per trauma-informed practice, each guest in The Trauma Beat podcast is afforded the opportunity to review and veto a list of anticipated questions before the recorded conversation. Ongoing, informed consent is sought throughout the production process.

This conversation was recorded in April 2022.

The Trauma Beat - #1 - Introduction

The Trauma Beat pulls together conversations about the media and trauma and all the (often) ugly ways the two intersect.

Host Tamara Cherry is an award-winning journalist, trauma researcher, and the founder of Pickup Communications, a public relations firm that supports trauma survivors and the stakeholders who surround them. She spent the bulk of her career as a crime reporter in some of Canada's largest newsrooms, including the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun and CTV News Toronto. She is now focussed on changing the system by which trauma survivors interact with and are impacted by the media, to the benefit of all stakeholders.

Tamara surveyed or interviewed more than 100 trauma survivors — from homicides to traffic fatalities, sexual violence to mass violence — and more than two dozen journalists as part of her research examining the impact of the media on trauma survivors and the impact of trauma on members of the media. This research inspired her latest book, The Trauma Beat: A Case for Re-Thinking the Business of Bad News, which was described in a Quill & Quire starred review as "a stunning work that should be required reading for journalism students, news reporters, true crime junkies, and anyone who wants to write narratives that heal, instead of harm."

Guests of The Trauma Beat include trauma survivors, survivor support workers, journalists, and investigators. Listeners are encouraged to read the show notes before each episode to avoid activating their own trauma responses.

Each guest is afforded the opportunity to review and veto a list of anticipated questions before the recorded conversation. Ongoing, informed consent is sought throughout the production process.

For more trauma-informed journalism resources, visit pickupcommunications.com.

If you'd like to be a guest on the show or inquire about sponsorship opportunities, please email contact@pickupcommunications.com.