Welcome to Episode 11 of Reporters Shop Talk. My name is Stu Campaigne. I'm a reporter with BayToday and here as always with my colleague Dave Dale. Today's topic is covering and addressing mental health issues in our writing and the way it affects our writing and the job we do as journalists.
Did you have something in mind for this topic?
Dave: Well, more and more mental illness is being talked about openly and the issues surrounding it, so we end up interviewing people with mental health issues about those stories. It makes us face the reality of how to deal with those people who are suffering a mental illness and how do we incorporate that sensitivity into the reporting. So it's definitely a very modern current issue in journalism.
Stu: I would imagine, you know, going back to 20 years in your career, things have completely changed as far as addressing mental illness.
Dave: Yeah, it changed to the point where it's talked about more openly now. And people with mental illness want to be involved with stories to help drive change. And then we're covering stories about the impacts of mental illness like homelessness.
So, you know, even this summer, you dealt with it this fall with some homeless people organizing protests and you have to sort of walk a fine line. How did you feel?
Stu: I think you're right. I think I've dealt with several individuals. Now, I'm not privy to their medical histories, but I think I know there are some mental illnesses that are obviously a little bit more apparent than others. And I come away from a few interviews feeling as though, you know, there's a choice to be made in dealing with someone who is clearly mentally ill. Do we have to relate that to the reader or do we just let the words speak for themselves? To me, it's really a case by case basis. How much does it affect the story? And is it relevant to the story, I guess is the first one? And how much does it affect what's been said?
How do you feel about that kind of take on it?
Dave: Well, definitely it's the responsibility of the reporter to take it into account in some way. Right. It's going to fall to you one way or another. I know that, for example, Bob Wood they just named a street after him, long time MP in town who has revealed his struggles with dementia, Alzheimer's, and was part of a fundraiser I did a couple of years ago. My dad suffered from dementia and from that I started doing podcast interviews with him (Bob). And it was apparent that through some of the interviews that, you know, he had strong points during the day. And then there are other times in the day where he was tired enough that it really showed through. So, you know, I adjusted the schedule for that. Also, the frequency of interviewing him and doing talks with him became less and less just because I didn't want to take advantage of the situation and I didn't want him seen in a light of him struggling.
Stu: So now we kind of shifted the focus from mental illness to people who have cognitive impairments or struggles such as dementia patients, and you and I have a common bond with that as far as, not only dealing with Bob Wood but also, you know, your dad and my mom who is still living. And your dad has passed away now, but my mom is dealing with dementia and I think maybe we're…I would like to think you and I are a little more attuned to the signs, although I've been told they could be different for everyone. But maybe we're a little more sympathetic to relate that to someone's story. You know, I think at times maybe we tend to fill in the gaps because we know them so well. So we know what they meant by saying that even though they haven't said it completely. And I think that's fair game. I think that's fair game in reporting. I think we do it [and] this is kind of an offshoot example.
Dave: Well, I think in general, I think we're talking about how reporters protect people from looking too silly, because we know that they're trying and our intent is not to change the storyline, you know, because of their communication or articulation skills. And we want to be talking about the subject matter and the concepts, not how they talk. Right. So I think we end up doing that a lot in stories.
Stu: Things like language and customs come into play, I think you've got to be really careful about the way you present a quote or paraphrasing someone without kind of giving them the benefit of the doubt that we're going to present it in limited English language as a way of getting their point across.
Dave: Yeah, well, even last night I was quoting from a municipal council meeting and the person speaking her first language is French and they're speaking in English.
And there is no way I was going to present the quote exactly the way they said it. I left it out, I made sure they didn't sound like they were speaking in broken English, but I also didn’t make them sound like they're speaking in perfect English. I quoted them on where it was clear and I left out the parts where she just needed to be paraphrased instead.
Stu: Absolutely. And getting back to the to the Bob Wood kind of angle we were talking about, you know, this is a guy who made his living speaking and speaking publicly as both a radio host and a politician. And I think in a way, we don't need to write it to make it sound like he's just like he was back in the day. But if he stumbles or, you know, says something that maybe doesn't completely, you know, make sense on the face of it, I don't think it does anything to the story to put it in that way. Especially when the good sense of what he was trying to say is very clear.
And I think the main point I'm taking away from this whole discussion is we can do things to help people get their points across without changing the story at all. And I think that's important, an important part of what we do that is maybe sometimes overlooked as far as reporting goes.
Dave: Yeah, and I think it's an important thing to talk about as journalists, to understand we have responsibilities for how we go about telling a story and making sure that the focus is not necessarily on people's weak spots, but with the strength of what they're bringing to a story.
