Journalists can include survivors in the storytelling process: sharing interview questions in advance, for example, and allowing survivors to review their quotes.
“For me, the key is to give survivors agency,” says Angela Kim, a survivor who has written for California Health Report. “It's crucial to acknowledge the inherent power dynamics in the reporting process and to build safety and trust by keeping survivors informed and involved in how their story is being told.”
Time constraints, traditional journalism practices, and some newsroom policies can make this kind of collaboration challenging, but transparency builds trust with your sources and can lead to richer and more impactful stories.
Tips
Share questions in advance
Before an interview, provide a list of questions, sketch a general outline of the story you have in mind, or simply ask survivors what would help them prepare.
Try peer interviews
Invite survivors to conduct their own interviews with their loved ones or other relevant characters in the story you are crafting. Guide this process by helping them develop interview questions, recording the interviews alongside them, and talking afterward about how it went.
Explain editorial decisions
Explain whatever editorial decisions and processes you can, particularly any that may go against what a survivor wanted.
Prior review
It may conflict with journalistic tradition and some newsroom policies, but consider allowing survivors to give feedback or review sensitive aspects of a story prior to publication. The unique circumstances of each case will help you and your editors find a balance between ethical standards and survivor safety. Some different ways this could be done:
Summarize key points
Provide a brief summary of the main points or themes of the story. This gives the survivor an overview of what will be covered without sharing specific details or quotes.
Share direct quotes
Offer survivors the opportunity to review the direct quotes attributed to them and the context in which they are placed. This helps ensure accuracy and gives survivors a chance to clarify or even rescind what they have said.
Discuss sensitive details
Schedule time to review specific sensitive sections, such as descriptions of traumatic events or personal information. This allows journalists to handle these parts with care and respect for the privacy and safety of survivors and their families.
Share your draft
In rare and highly sensitive cases, provide relevant parts of the draft of your story for the survivor to review.
“This is not something I would ever do for people in power, or people who have an advocacy agenda,” says Sammy Caiola, special projects reporter at Kensington Voice. “But for vulnerable sources, I've developed like a fact check which is, ‘Hey, here's what I heard, this is kind of my paraphrase. Let me read it back to you on the phone.’ Sometimes, they'll be like, ‘Oh man, I was having a horrible day when I told you that. I wasn't thinking straight, could you not use that?’ The most important thing to me is that they are comfortable with what is getting published. I just don't want there to be any surprises for them come print day.”
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