The Trauma Beat - #10 - Elynne Greene

The Trauma Beat

For more than three decades, Elynne Greene answered the call to help those who were confronted by the unimaginable. From homicides and traffic fatalities, to sexual violence and human trafficking, to the “One October” mass shooting on the Las Vegas strip, the recently retired manager of Victim Services for Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has supported countless trauma survivors through their darkest days.

And through it all, Elynne’s job has included at least some involvement with the media — a rare quality for victim services personnel. She has seen how the media can harm, and how the media can help. In conversation with Tamara Cherry, she provides invaluable advice for journalists, victim service providers and investigators, including how they can work together to support survivors, and each other.

Elynne and her team supported victims and survivors in the hours, weeks, months, and years that followed One October, as it came to be known, when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of outdoor concert goers. She recalls those chaotic first hours of supporting survivors who didn’t know whether their loved ones were among the dead, and how, as the story stretched on, the media favored certain survivors over others.

Elynne discusses the methodologies (reaching out to survivors, showing up at their home), language (for example, words used to describe sexually exploited children), and elements journalists often use to tell their stories (for example, images of body bags and car wrecks, sounds of gunshots, and identifiable crime scene photos), and how these common practices in the newsgathering and storytelling process can negatively impact survivors. She also speaks to the importance of not perpetuating myths about crimes like human trafficking.

Elynne also unpacks the importance of supporting survivors throughout the media process, from providing them with the information they need to make an informed choice to engage (or not) with the media, to preparing them for an interview, and advocating for them if things go sideways.

As per trauma-informed practice, each guest in The Trauma Beat podcast is afforded the opportunity to review and veto a list of anticipated questions before the recorded conversation. Ongoing, informed consent is sought throughout the production process.

This conversation was recorded in March 2022. Elynne retired from her post at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 2023.

For more trauma-informed journalism resources, visit pickupcommunications.com.

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