How the Columbine tragedy changed Colorado journalists and their newsrooms will be the topic of an April 1 panel at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Discussing the story behind the story will be John Temple, editor of the Rocky Mountain News; Michelle Fulcher, former national editor of The Denver Post; and Roger Simpson, director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at the University of Washington. The event will be held from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, in Eaton Humanities Building room 250.
The panel is sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and is free and open to the public.
Following a screening of "Covering Columbine," a documentary about how journalists covered Columbine, the panelists will discuss the newsroom aftermath of the tragedy. Have they changed the way they cover tragedy? Do news managers prepare reporters for covering violence and trauma? Has this story changed them personally?
"Nothing can fully prepare journalists to cover a tragedy or disaster, but planning can improve the quality and accuracy of the reporting," said Dean Paul Voakes, panel moderator. "This panel and a special training session for faculty will help us fulfill our obligation to train future journalists to treat victims of tragedy with care while painting an authentic picture of crime, violence and tragedy in our society."
More information about how journalists cover tragedy and violence is available on the Web at .