Reporting when the stakes are high: Journalist Daniel Doody shares his story

“You're surrounded by fires. It's still burning. There’s smoke in the air. You can't breathe. My wife was about 10 months pregnant, so I was worried and I said to her, ‘look, you can't be here’...I had a bushfire evacuation plan in place...If the fires were going to come through Bega, my car was already packed. So I told my wife...‘you need to go stay with my parents in Sydney’... I [stayed] home with our two dogs and the cat and I was scared. Don't get me wrong. I was very, very scared.” -Daniel Doody, Studio 10 Roving Reporter

What happens when the community you know and love is on fire, your wife is full-term pregnant and you’re out in the field reporting, while still working as an SES volunteer?

The stakes couldn’t have been higher for Bega-based ABC journalist and now Studio 10 roving reporter Daniel Doody during the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires.

And while it’s been a while since the event, it’s clear the experience hasn’t left him.

“There was a couple of days where I was hearing one tragedy after another,” Daniel says. “And I'm not just talking about the loss of life. I'm talking about people losing their homes, being burned to the ground, losing everything. And because they knew my character...they could really confide in me. They knew that I had a sense of empathy and I was with them all the way.”

Journalists are humans too

It’s PR Darlings co-hosts Jo Stone and Greer Quinn offered Daniel the option to remove a section of his interview, but he graciously said he was comfortable sharing his vulnerability. This episode is an important one that touches on the issue of trauma on the job (see links to resources in show notes).

“Journalists and PR professionals are trained to tell the stories of other people,” Greer says. “They’re trained not to become the story themselves. And while they do an amazing job at that, it’s important to remember they are still very much human.”

Journalists and media crews are often on the front lines and are witnesses to some of the worst suffering of humankind.

For the large part, journalists are doing their best to tell the story they’re seeing and hearing, so their audience can be informed.

This is all done under tight deadlines and conflicting priorities.

“We thank Daniel for raising the issue of trauma for journalists because it’s something that’s very unseen and rarely spoken about publicly,” Jo says.

“The media regularly report on violent murders, traumatic deaths, catastrophic events, devastating natural disasters, brutal wars and car accidents, but as Daniel points out, sometimes it’s the sadness and suffering of those left behind that can leave the most lasting impact.”

A change of pace

A recent recruit to Studio 10’s national program, Daniel is kicking amazing goals so early into his career. His image was recently projected onto the Sydney Opera House sails in celebration of WOW (Wear Orange Wednesday) Day and the great work SES volunteers do.

While his current role with Studio 10 represents a complete change of pace to his time as a regional reporter covering the bushfires, a common thread remains: Daniel’s love of community.

These days, you’ll find him out in the field singing on boats, sampling cheeses and dancing to afro-beats. In the last month, he’s travelled to Mount Isa to cover rodeos and almost to the moon and back, thanks to Qantas’ supermoon flight.

“I love covering the community feel-good stories,” Daniel says. “I love meeting different types of people within our community. We live in a multicultural society, so it’s just so heart-warming and so great to see people that are passionate about a certain product or a certain cause.”

Daniel explains the latest jargon

Given Daniel is up-to-date with the latest industry lingo, Jo and Greer “mixed things up a little” this episode and handed the “jargon gem” mic to Daniel.

“Daniel is going to tell us all about grabs, IFBs, eyelines, but we’ll do a throw at the end of the show so he can explain...oh, we might get him to tell you what a “throw” is too,” Jo says.

“If you don’t already follow Daniel Doody on Twitter, we highly recommend you do...his broad smile and outgoing personality literally make you want to giggle and dance with him,” Greer says.

Resources and support

The Dart Center has many resources to help media deal with trauma exposure of many kinds. It’s also a good resource for public relations professionals who can sometimes also be at the coalface during a disaster and may need to help journalists they’re working with or might need some support themselves.

As well as the Dart Center, there are other resources too including Lifeline and Beyond Blue. We’ve put links in the show notes to these resources. We thank Daniel for the role he played to provid...