Paper short abstract:

Using a novel, Kuraimāzu Hai, and its dramatization to help illustrate the issues, this paper highlights how journalists covering a disaster may experience highs from covering a major story, but also lows and PTSD from experiencing sights of suffering that can impact them for many years to come.

Paper long abstract:

When disaster strikes many people will turn to TVs and newspapers to learn more. They want to know what happened, where it happened, and how many were impacted. But how many stop to think about what the journalists covering the event are experiencing? In this paper I address some of the issues that journalists face, both the highs and excitement in covering something which tends to draw in higher than usual levels of consumption, and also the lows of having contend with images of suffering that can impact them for many years to come.

Whilst it has been suggested that fewer Japanese journalists may experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than counterparts in many other nations, the figures may be deceptive. Do all journalists admit to the problems they face, for example? Furthermore, whatever the actual numbers suffering PTSD, the fact remains that for those suffering it is a real problem and one which, perhaps due to how little it is discussed, may not be fully understood. Consequently, victims may not be getting sufficient support.

The JL123 plane crash of 12 August 1985 remains the world's largest single plane crash. 520 of the 524 passengers died in the crash in the mountains of Ueno-mura in central Japan. Inevitably in the days that followed there was a media frenzy. But what was it like for these journalists who had to contend with 'scenes like hell'? This paper discusses issues faced by journalists, including photographers, covering this crash. It also looks at how PTSD appears to have impacted one former local journalist, Hideo Yokoyama, who covered the crash and how a novel, Kuraimāzu Hai, he wrote about the local media coverage of the crash reveals aspects of his suffering and also the highs and lows that journalists face covering a disaster.