Some stories are particularly sensitive to tell. Relaying experiences of sexual violence and domestic abuse can be challenging, particularly for those with directly affected who’re often revisiting traumatic events.
To communicate experiences responsibly storytellers sometimes look to guidance on how to work with survivors. There’s a duty to the audience, too, some of whom may also have related experiences of their own.
IPSO – the Independent Press Standards Organisation – are responsible for an evolving set of editorial standards and codes designed to help journalists from all sorts of newspapers and magazines produce accurate reporting. They also provide training.
Here at Heard we’ve been supporting survivors to tell their stories since 2016. Our Angles programme brings media professionals together with people with lived experience of sexual violence and domestic abuse. It’s designed to promote better understanding of the issue and shape better content.
Heard supports members of the Angles network to develop practical communication skills while providing background on how media works. It’s all about helping people get their stories heard in the way they want them to be heard. Angles also creates a peer-to-peer network for survivors to support to each other.
IPSO and the Angles network came together on three occasions throughout 2018–2019. During this period the #MeToo movement was increasing the public’s interest in the reporting of sexual offences, and IPSO wanted to update their editorial standards surrounding the topic.
The meetings were an exchange of thoughts between two groups of people who don’t usually connect in this way – a safe and constructive space designed to ensure parties felt comfortable, represented, understood and useful.
The interactions were an opportunity for both groups to share common misunderstandings, and a chance to delve into small details of reporting with large significance – be it the headline on an article, image selection or the adverts surrounding the story. Opening up the dialogue meant there were informative realisations for both groups.
These get-togethers had practical outcomes. IPSO were prompted to take further steps than they’d planned. Beyond evolving their planned guidance for editors and journalists – of which Angles members were invited to comment and feedback – they also created resources for survivors of sexual offences. It also opened up IPSO’s world to other organisations working in the same area.
As one senior editor representing IPSO pointed out: the necessity to tell tough stories is not going away, so our ability to tell them – from all sides – should always be evolving.
This is based on an independent evaluation of Heard’s work involving a series of interviews with all involved. The full evaluation is available on request.
