What are some strategies for reporting on a story with a personal connection?

This can both help you and hinder you, and you have to be honest with yourself, your editors, and your readers. When I was very young, I was exposed in depth to conflict in Ireland/Northern Ireland. As a journalist, this helped me because I knew the landscape. In some stories, I have disclosed parts of my background. In others, I have written straightforward news articles. And sometimes I have had to walk away from a story. As journalists, we always have to remember that we are human. We have experience with families, societies, politics, crime, love, art, science, business, school, war, nature, and so much more. As professionals, we navigate life, and strive for balance and honesty.

Making your position clear, by stating your personal involvement, removes any potential conflict of interest. As long as you have disclosed your personal connections and clarified what is other people's testimony and what is your personal feelings and your personal experience, then that is a good way to start.

I was completely unprepared to report a story on a rehabilitation centre for women suffering from mental health disorders. I dived in with my 'list of questions' prepared. Only to discover not even a single one worked. Empathy is great for a journalist but it can take a toll. Three tips- Tag along with a fellow reporter who has no personal connection to the story. Two, try and come back to the questions if you find yourself getting carried way. Three, if the connection is too personal, ask your editor to assign the story to someone else as you won't be able to do proper justice to it at the moment. Experience in reporting also counts when covering a certain category of reporting. Loop your senior editors or journalists in.

It is about full honest disclosure and state it is your personal opinions being stated or let someone else do the job. Your personal views must have a counterpoint which might be very hard to report but you might have to ask your audience for their contribution to the story.

Today I would like about Ageism, it has been pushed under the rug for far too long, and we in the global community need to recognize it and begin to honor the fact that seniors in life have been under-acknowledged. Wisdom and authenticity are undervalued when the thoughts of a senior are pushed aside for one who is younger in life but with no idea of the strengths gained by living life to the maximum. It is the seniors in our lives that often bring empathy and peace to the table of a disgruntled conversation. Being pushed away told to be quiet and that they don't matter they have lived their lives is wrong. Respect for their wisdom and the ability to lead us just might be paramount to a conscious living aspect in our lives.

As a journalist, remember that the thoughts of your resources or interviewees might be different than what you believe about a certain topic or news. This contrast in views will in fact make your story stand out and add a lot of value for the readers. We have to realize the fact that as a journalist our job is to: -Research -Analyze -Formulate -Respect the difference of opinions & perspective -Present what people (or resources) feel Heads Up!: It is the research part where your beliefs might get challenged. Your evolution as a journalist will begin when you embrace those new viewpoints and add flexibility to your opinions.

Reflect also on your thoughts, beliefs, and assertions, and when possible, incorporate those reflections explicitly into the story. Often, thoughts, beliefs, and assertions themselves can be shaped by emotion. To help yourself and the reader navigate toward greater objectivity, create a detailed inventory of what you believe, what experiences have led you to believe it, what would have to be true to disprove your beliefs or suspicions, and whether you've effectively disproven that null hypothesis or not. This will help you identify and correct for your biases, but more importantly, it will put power in the hands of the reader to make informed decisions about whether to trust you, on which topics, with what caveats, and to what degree.

Reflect on having the privilege and responsibility to harness the power of your emotions in your work. Consider that emotions are an integral part of the human experience. As storytellers, we have the unique ability to leverage the climate of our own energy to create impactful stories. Embrace the passion that enables us to connect deeply with close to home subjects and engage audiences on a profound level.

How you treat sources should be defined by your relationship with the sources and the context that any information that comes your way.