Editor’s note: Journalists typically learn early on how to write a city council story, cover a sports game, do an investigative piece into questionable spending by public officials, write a profile or in-depth article.
They may never have to cover breaking news and follow-up stories related to horrific mass shootings in Orlando and Dallas, and on school and college campuses and elsewhere.
College and professional media should have in place at least some guidelines on how to cover such tragedies and how publications and stations want to present the coverage, including coverage through social media. They’ll want to look at many different angles and how to best do so.