EDITING TRAUMATICALLY SENSITIVE MEDIA TEXTS: THE ASPECT OF MEDIA TRAUMA LITERACY

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical justification for the peculiarities of editing trauma-sensitive media texts as a component of media trauma literacy in the context of a war and crisis information environment. The relevance of the study is due to the growing number of materials related to war, violence, loss, forced displacement, and human rights violations, which increases the risks of retraumatization of the subjects of publications and secondary traumatization of the audience. It has been proven that the editorial stage of media text creation is a critically important link in the transformation of individual traumatic experiences into public discourse. It is at this level that decisions are made regarding wording, headlines, structure, visuals, and emphasis, which determine not only the informativeness of the material but also its psychological impact. In this work, media trauma literacy is defined as an integrative professional quality of a journalist who combines psychological knowledge about the nature of trauma, ethical reflection, and practical skills of safe communication. A structural model of media trauma literacy is proposed, covering five interrelated components: ethical, psychological, communicative, analytical, and editorial-technological. Each of them is considered as a system of professional skills aimed at minimizing harm, avoiding stigmatization, and ensuring a balance between the public's right to information and the protection of human dignity. The necessity of integrating the principle of “do no harm” into all stages of media production is substantiated. The necessity of integrating the principle of “do no harm” into all stages of media production – from interview preparation to final publication approval – is justified. The importance of informed consent, the use of neutral language, the labeling of sensitive content, and the restriction of shocking visual materials is emphasized. Particular attention is paid to the problem of secondary traumatic stress among journalists and the need to institutionalize trauma literacy in educational programs and editorial policies. It is concluded that media trauma literacy is a systemic factor in the humanization of journalism and increasing trust in the media in wartime