OKC: An Editor Builds Community Through Coverage

[showtime]

Much has changed since April 19, 1995, when a yellow rental truck became a bomb that killed innocent victims and devastated parts of downtown Oklahoma City .

Today, in my community, visitors worldwide flock to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The area that was damaged has been mostly rebuilt or replaced by what’s now considered a vibrant downtown.

The media landscape has also changed as our platforms continue to increase and evolve.

All of this, however, shouldn’t change the need for standards and credibility in covering these man-made disasters. Our communities continue to depend on us for the vital information and stories during their aftermaths.

We in Oklahoma still remember that difficult time as each anniversary passes, especially the major ones. We’ll be asked questions about what happened that day, as people too young to remember begin to learn about the event’s impact on us. We’ll debate whether the extremist-right movement, seen as behind the 1995 domestic terrorist attack, is re-emerging today and could do this again to another community.

The same exists for those in the local media. We must consistently remind our journalists what it took and what it will take to provide coverage.

At The Oklahoman, the News and Information Center’s Standards Team publishes an internal “Higher Standards” that I contribute to and edit. Here is what I wrote in the latest edition:

As the 15^th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing approaches, it’s important for us to remember why The Oklahoman became the standard-bearer for sensitive and respectful coverage during the bombing and subsequent anniversaries of it.

We not only told the stories of people, their struggles and triumphs, throughout the recovery process, but we also portrayed how our community rose to help each other and recover while remembering the tragedy of those moments in time. We led the noble causes of “How to get help” and “How to help.” And, once the community responded, we told about the “acts of kindness” that spurred the community to more acts that aided in the process.

Any mass medium involved in this type of coverage should know and understand the impact that it has on its audience – its community – so it can respond appropriately when readers or viewers turn to it. This holds true even as we cover the anniversaries of it.

The choices we make will determine whether we will:

• Provide speculation that will cause panic. Or, provide accurate information that will spur realistic reactions.
• Portray people as they died. Or, portray people who lived before dying tragically.
• Be the community’s reason to voice outrage over why a tragedy occurred or react harshly in violent ways. Or, be the community’s voice of reason during the aftermath and subsequent anniversaries.
• Redisplay images or replay video that causes more pain. Or, display images or play video that shows the recovery process (or lack of it) and how people are doing today, rather than the blood or gore of the original event. (If those images or videos are used, they should be smaller or used to compare with what is occurring today.)

This doesn’t change because we now offer our information, images and video on multimedia platforms.

We challenge each of you to remember and reflect on what made us great 15 years ago, and how we can continue to uphold those standards that we ultimately created.

We shouldn’t get caught up in what other media do for the sake of increased circulation or page views on April 19.

All of us in the media should understand that we build communities through our coverage, both individually and in our different platforms. We can and will determine in large part how our communities react to a major tragedy and the aftermath.

We at The Oklahoman and other media learned this important lesson 15 years ago on a sunny April day in Oklahoma City — so much that sensitive coverage of victims is now part of our Ethics Policy.

Joe Hight is the director of information and development for The Oklahoman/NewsOK.com. He was the victims team leader during The Oklahoman’s bombing coverage.