VOA标准英语2010年-Reporting Crises: Dangerous to Your Me

Photojournalist Kian Amani covered the violent aftermath of the Iranian election on the streets of Tehran last summer

Journalists are known for their tenacity¹ in reporting dramatic news events as they unfold, whether it's a local news reporter covering a warehouse² fire or a war correspondent embedded³ with a military unit.  Sometimes that means risking their physical safety to get and tell the story.  But research shows the trauma⁴ journalists witness up close could also have a lingering impact on their emotional well-being⁵.

Today, photojournalist Kian Amani is starting a new life in Washington DC, but last summer he was covering the violent election aftermath on the streets of Tehran.  Kian says he was arrested three times by security forces for taking images of the demonstrations⁶. The ongoing⁷ violence he witnessed eventually took its toll⁸.

"I was running away and they started shooting and a bullet hit the chest of a young man of maybe 18, 19. He died," Amani recalled.  "This was a difficult scene for me and I had bad days afterwards, nightmares, stress. I became depressed⁹.   On the anniversary of the election, those emotions are coming back to me."

 

But Kian is not alone. Researchers say it's not uncommon¹⁰ for journalists who cover traumatic events - like 9/11, Haiti or the Iran elections - to experience high levels of emotional and psychological distress¹¹, even long after the immediate¹² danger has ended. In effect, they not only observe the event they're reporting about, they're also absorbing it.

"They're there to cover the story, not to become the story," noted¹³ Dr. Suzan Stafford, a Psychologist in Washington D.C. 

Dr. Stafford has treated journalists after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, and she says reporters have the same reactions under stress as the people caught in the news event they're covering.

"It's physiological¹⁴ and it's emotional," she added.  "Physiologically¹⁵, we have a tendency when we come into a situation that seems dangerous we get a lot of chemicals flowing through our bodies to help us stay alert, to be able to act if we need to act. So you have all these chemicals at high levels that you don't normally have in your body. And it can take days for them to get out of your body. Emotionally they are feeling empathy. They are feelings a lot of sadness. They may have even survivor¹⁶ guilt¹⁷. Even if they weren't next to the person when it happened they may still feel guilty that they did not experience what these other people experienced." 

Studies suggest nearly a third of war correspondents suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder¹⁸ (PTSD). It's a type of severe anxiety that's triggered by a traumatic event. Symptoms can include flashbacks, nightmares and memory problems, and can last for months or even years. In one study of photojournalists, 98 percent reported they had been exposed to events that mental health professionals would deem traumatic, while roughly one in sixteen met the criteria¹⁹ for PTSD.

"They have trouble sleeping," Dr. Stafford explained.  "They might have some sort of nightmares or dreams about what they have seen. They become irritable²⁰. They become uncomfortable with going back sometimes. They might even have survivor guilt"."

Mike Walter is a veteran news reporter who covered the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and was haunted by nightmares afterwards. He channeled his emotional breakdown²¹ into a documentary film about journalists who struggle with the traumatic violence they witness. Today, Walter works with the DART²² Center, an organization which helps journalists deal with the emotional stress of covering traumatic news events. He thinks that last month - on the one-year anniversary of widespread street protests in Iran- many journalists there were reliving some of the stress of last year's election crisis.

"What happens when you get close to an anniversary is suddenly those images are back on TV.  Suddenly you pick up the newspaper, you see the images in the newspaper.  And it takes you back to that time," he noted.  "I was astonished at my own reaction.  [During] the lead up to the 9/11 anniversary, suddenly I was having the same kinds of nightmares I had shortly after the attacks on 9/11."

Dr. Stafford says people are enormously resilient and that patients, including journalists, with the support of family and friends, can return to a more "normal" life.  She encourages her patients to try to go back to their old routines and to think positively²³ about the future. She says the patients need to accept the fact that the trauma has happened, but that other and better things might happen still.

 

1 tenacity   

n.坚韧

参考例句：

• Tenacity is the bridge to success.坚韧是通向成功的桥。
• The athletes displayed great tenacity throughout the contest.运动员在比赛中表现出坚韧的斗志。

2 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

3 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

4 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

5 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

6 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

10 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

11 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。

15 physiologically   

ad.生理上，在生理学上

参考例句：

• Therefore, the liver and gallbladder cannot be completely separated physiologically and pathologically. 因此，肝胆在生理和病理上不能完全分离。
• Therefore, the liver and gallbladder are closely related physiologically and pathologically. 因此，肝胆在生理和病理上紧密联系。

16 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

17 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

18 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

19 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

20 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

21 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

22 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

23 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。