The Trauma Beat: A Case for Re-thinking the Business of Bad News

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. Agent: Carly Watters, P.S. Literary. (May)