A Survey for Family Members of Missing People

The following survey is intended to be used as research about the impact of the media on victims and survivors of crime and trauma. This research is being conducted by former journalist, Victimology professor and Pickup Communications founder Tamara Cherry with the goal of producing educational materials that will help investigators, victim service providers and members of the media better understand and support victims, survivors and those with missing loved ones in their interactions (or lack thereof) with the media. Your responses may be quoted fully, or in part, within materials (such as a research paper, book, presentations and various other educational tools) connected to the research. If you do not wish to be identified in these materials, please indicate in the appropriate section at the end of this survey and your wishes will be respected. Please answer each question as fully as you feel comfortable.

Thank you for your participation. Your voice is important and your insights, difficult as they may be to recount, are valuable.

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* 1. Your full name(s):

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* 2. Name, age (at time of disappearance) and relation of your missing loved one:

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* 3. Date and city where your loved one was reported missing:

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* 4. To the extent you are comfortable, please describe what you know about the circumstances of your loved one's disappearance.

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* 5. Had you ever had any encounters with the media before your loved one went missing? If so, in what capacity and to what extent?

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* 6. Was a news release issued by police about your loved one's disappearance?

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* 7. Did members of the media try to contact you in the immediate aftermath (first 72 hours) of your loved one's disappearance? If so, please describe what methods reporters used to make contact with you (for example, via social media, knocking at your door, approaching you at the crime scene, calling your house, etc).

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* 8. If you were contacted by members of the media in the immediate aftermath (first 72 hours) of your loved one's disappearance, how did this make you feel?

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* 9. If you were not contacted by members of the media in the immediate aftermath (72 hours) of your loved one's disappearance, how did this make you feel?

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* 10. How would you describe the attention your case received from the media in the immediate aftermath (first 72 hours) of your loved one's disappearance?

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* 11. How did this attention make you feel?

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* 12. How would you describe the attention your case received in the weeks, months and, if applicable, years that followed your loved one's disappearance?

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* 13. How did this attention make you feel?

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* 14. Do you recall experiencing or seeing anything that was particularly upsetting to you in the media coverage of your case?

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* 15. Do you recall experiencing or seeing anything that was particularly comforting or beneficial to you in the media coverage of your case?

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* 16. Did you want to proactively engage with the media (either by way of a written or video statement, media scrum, news conference or one-on-one interview)?

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* 17. If you wanted to engage with the media, at what point following your loved one's disappearance did you wish to engage? Did you feel equipped to do so?

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* 18. If you did not want to engage with the media, and the media was contacting you, what was your experience in keeping the media away? Did you feel equipped to do so?

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* 19. Were there any aspects of media coverage and/or you dealing with the media at any point, from the immediate aftermath of your loved one's disappearance to years down the road, that you found to be particularly traumatic?

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* 20. Were there any aspects of media coverage and/or you dealing with the media at any point that you found to be particularly positive?

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* 21. If you had any negative experiences consuming news coverage of your case or engaging with members of the media, is there anything you think could have made your experience easier, less traumatic, or more beneficial for you?

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* 22. What would your advice be to other family members of missing people suddenly faced with media coverage?

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* 23. What would your advice be to investigators and/or victim service providers looking to support family members of missing people in engaging or not engaging with the media?

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* 24. What would your advice be to members of the media who are covering missing persons cases, such as your own, and who wish to engage with/interview family members?

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* 25. Is there anything else you would like people to know about the impact of the media on family members of missing people?

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* 26. Are you comfortable with your responses being quoted and attributed to you in the materials produced from this research? If no, please indicate your level of comfort (for example, if you would not like to be named, how would you like to be identified and are you still comfortable with your responses being quoted?).

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* 27. Are you comfortable being contacted for follow-up information or clarification of your responses, should the need arise? If so, please share your preferred method of contact here.

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