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Expertise
In practice
Value lived experience
Journalists naturally rely on doctors, researchers, lawmakers, and other professionals when reporting on domestic violence. Remember that the lived experience of survivors can be equally valuable, and balance the perspectives in your story accordingly.
Reconsider traditional framing
Framing domestic violence as a “dispute” minimizes the harm that survivors have endured and overlooks its root causes. If you treat a survivor as an expert and their experience as evidence of a bigger issue, you might find a better story.
Look beyond trauma
Domestic violence is a traumatic experience that journalists can share to powerful effect in their storytelling, but it is only one part of a survivor’s experience. Ask about the systems they have had to navigate. Ask about their culture, work, studies, faith, and anything else that might inform their perspective and aid in their healing.
“Not only do we have life experience … expertise comes in how we structure our experience into constructive criticisms, insights, inputs, and feedback.”
Sage Johnson
Next Principles
Diversity
Transparency
Sensitivity
Solutions
Safety
