“Is what I’m doing right?”: Professional (self-)criticism following coverage of a mass shooting

Abstract

Covering a mass shooting can change a journalist’s outlook on the profession and craft of journalism. Some journalists thought of themselves as trusted in the community and righting wrongs, while others questioned the value of their coverage, regretted their processes or reflected on the ethical challenges they faced. The 51 journalists interviewed in this article demonstrated the media functions described by Weaver et al.—interpretive-watchdog, adversarial, disseminator and populist-mobilizer.

Keywords

ethics press and society content/coverage trauma mass shooting journalism roles

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