A Survey for Survivors of Mass Violence

The following survey is intended to be used as research about the impact of the media on victims and survivors of crime and trauma. This research is being conducted by former journalist, Victimology professor and Pickup Communications founder Tamara Cherry with the goal of producing educational materials that will help investigators, victim service providers and members of the media better understand and support victims and survivors in their interactions (or lack thereof) with the media. Your responses may be quoted fully, or in part, within materials (such as a research paper, book, presentations and various other educational tools) connected to the research. If you do not wish to be identified in these materials, please indicate in the appropriate section at the end of this survey and your wishes will be respected. Please answer each question as fully as you feel comfortable.

Thank you for your participation. Your voice is important and your insights, difficult as they may be to recount, are valuable.

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* 1. Your full name (please indicate if this is a pseudonym): 

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* 2. Date, city and place of your experience

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* 3. Had you ever had any encounters with the media before this experience? If so, in what capacity and to what extent?

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* 4. In relation to your case, what do you recall about your first encounter with the media and/or your first experience consuming the news coverage?

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* 5. If members of the media tried to contact you in the immediate aftermath (first 72 hours) of your experience, what method(s) did they use to do so? (ie social media, door knocking, phone call, approaching you at the scene, etc.)

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* 6. If you were contacted/approached by members of the media in the immediate aftermath, how did this make you feel?

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* 7. If you were not contacted/approached by members of the media, how did this make you feel?

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* 8. Did the media coverage of your case change the way you consume the news? If so, how?

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* 9. Do you recall experiencing or seeing anything that was particularly upsetting to you in the media coverage of your case?

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* 10. Do you recall experiencing or seeing anything that was particularly comforting or beneficial to you?

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* 11. Did you feel that the media coverage of your case created a "hierarchy" of survivors? If so, how, and what impact did this have?

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* 12. What, if anything, about the media coverage of other mass violence incidents triggers your trauma?

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* 13. If you had any negative experiences consuming news coverage of your case or engaging with members of the media, is there anything you think could have made your experience easier, less traumatic, or more beneficial for you?

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* 14. What would your advice be to other survivors of mass violence suddenly faced with media coverage?

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* 15. What would your advice be to investigators and/or victim service providers looking to support survivors of mass violence in engaging or choosing not to engage with the media?

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* 16. What would your advice be to members of the media who are covering incidents of mass violence, and who wish to engage with/interview survivors?

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* 17. Is there anything else you would like people to know about the impact of the media on survivors of mass violence?

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* 18. If you would like to share anything about your experience to provide further context to your answers, please do so here.

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* 19. Are you comfortable with your responses being quoted and attributed to you in the materials produced from this research? If no, please indicate your level of comfort (for example, if you would not like to be named, how would you like to be identified and are you still comfortable with your responses being quoted?).

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* 20. Are you comfortable being contacted for follow-up information or clarification of your responses, should the need arise? If so, please share your preferred method of contact here.

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