{"id":13750,"date":"2025-01-17T14:07:33","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T14:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?p=13750"},"modified":"2025-01-17T14:07:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T14:07:34","slug":"journalists-covering-wildfires-navigating-trauma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2025\/01\/17\/journalists-covering-wildfires-navigating-trauma\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalists, in Their Own Words, on Covering Wildfires and Navigating Trauma"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
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Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter,<\/em><\/a> delivered every Friday in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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***<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Dear Storyboard community,<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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As I settle in as Storyboard guest editor<\/a>, I\u2019m eager to discuss the craft of narrative nonfiction, while also opening up this space to ask critical questions about how the work is done, whom it’s serving, and how we can tell stories in a way that respects community and preserves humanity. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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As wildfires continue to burn in Southern California, destroying homes and displacing people, such questions were already top of mind for journalist Jon Mooallem when he was given an assignment<\/a> from The New York Times Magazine to cover the aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California \u2014 which at the time was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. \u201cWe Have Fire Everywhere\u201d<\/a> was published in July 2019, and you can read Storyboard’s full annotation here<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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On preparing to interview sources, Mooallem said: “I didn\u2019t have a toolkit for that. All I could do was be as kind and patient and human as possible, and demonstrate that I didn\u2019t feel entitled to any of their time or cooperation. I could only ask.”<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u201cDoing this story affected me deeply and still does. \u2018Trauma\u2019 is the only word I know for it, and I hope I can use it without taking anything away from the trauma of people who\u2019ve actually lived through wildfires [or] from other journalists who cover these disasters more directly.\u201c <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Telling the Stories of a Black Neighborhood in Altadena <\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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Journalists on the ground in Southern California are navigating questions about how to tell the stories of those who are in shock and experiencing a tremendous loss in real-time. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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For Capital B News, Adam Mahoney covered the history and family stories of the middle-class Black community in Altadena<\/a>, where entire neighborhoods were wiped out by the Eaton fire:  <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Since 2020, major insurers have abandoned Altadena, leaving hundreds of Black families like the Daniels without coverage. And like many other Black families in the area, they\u2019re still expected to pay their mortgages while covering rent elsewhere. Three days after the fire, a real estate broker contacted Daniels\u2019 mother with a \u201cdeal\u201d: $7,000 rent for a 3-bedroom apartment in neighboring Monrovia. Double the average rent in the area. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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For more on Altadena, AfroLA<\/a> has published an in-depth history of the neighborhood<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Subscribe<\/h2>\n \n
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Get insights into the craft of journalism and storytelling in your inbox, delivered on Fridays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n \n

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Taking a Trauma-Informed Approach<\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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Journalist Erika Hayasaki, who is based in Southern California (she also wrote about the devastating Maui wildfire<\/a> for New York magazine and The New York Times), writes in her newsletter<\/a> about friends who lost homes, and she offers advice about trauma-informed reporting<\/a>: <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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“If the experience is still too raw, is the person really ready [to be interviewed]? Can they detach from the story and not be triggered by it? Here is another trauma-informed journalism principle: Don\u2019t push. Instead, give them a chance to speak to you when ready.”<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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For more resources on trauma-informed reporting, see our most recent stories from Nieman Reports<\/a>. For information on how you can donate to those affected by the LA fires, see this guide from the Los Angeles Times<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Links of Note <\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\"Neil
Image courtesy New York<\/em> magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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We’ll continue to feature stories, books, podcasts, documentaries, and useful resources in our weekly newsletter. If there’s something you’d like to share, send me a note (<\/em>heymarkarms@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>) and tell me why you loved it. <\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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