TABLE 1—

Summary of Situated Ethical Issues When Using Participatory Visual and Digital Methods

Challenges	Situation	Issues	Considerations for Ethical Digital Storytelling Practice
Fuzzy boundaries	DST falls at the nexus of public health practice, research, and advocacy.	Confusion between where priorities lie (research vs practice) can lead to very different implementation approaches.	All partners should be in agreement about specific goals, objectives, policies, and procedures.
Recruitment and consent to participate	Sponsors want to recruit diverse participants to share their stories.	There is a fine balance between protecting individuals who are in the midst of trauma from further harm and patronizing potential participants through exclusion.	Critically engage with potential participants about the realistic benefits and potential risks of participation. Provide cultural safety and supports (e.g., counselors or elders).
	Consent to participate is sometimes indirect: a story may feature people (voice, images, names) other than its author.	Those featured in the digital story may be unaware of or upset about their inclusion.	Optimally, oral or written consent is received from all of those featured in a story.
Power of shaping	Storytellers are encouraged to tell their own personal stories; however sometimes tensions arise between emphasizing processes versus products.	Facilitators may help “shape” the narrative to produce stories that will resonate with audiences, inadvertently imposing their own agendas. Sharing power often means losing control over messaging.	Reflexive attention to issues of power and a sense of cultural humility are key to excellent facilitation. Storyteller’s well-being and autonomy of voice should be at the center of a project.
Representation and harm	Participants sometimes tell stories that make us uncomfortable or expose themselves to harm through the process.	Digital stories can misrepresent communities or reify stereotypes. Exposing illegal or illicit activity might endanger storytellers or participants.	Storytellers’ well-being should be at the center of a project. Supports should be in place. Guidelines should be established and implemented for risk management and harm reduction. Facilitators can engage in critical dialogue with storytellers or audiences to challenge messages.
Confidentiality	Confidentiality may not always be possible or appropriate.	Stories are sometimes so distinct that it is impossible to guarantee confidentiality. Often participants want to be credited by name for their contributions.	Wherever possible, storytellers should be credited for their work by name (or chosen pseudonym) and maintain ownership over their stories.
Release of materials	Consent to participate in a digital storytelling workshop is not the same thing as release of materials: giving permission for your story to be shared in a variety of manners.	Release of materials needs to be negotiated on an ongoing basis. Some stories reveal very personal issues (e.g., HIV status, a history of violence) that can make participants vulnerable to stigma and discrimination. Storytellers might want to change their stories or to change their minds about dissemination over time.	Workshops should include a session on the ethics of videography, which considers the power of images and the spoken voice. Where, why, how and by whom stories are released needs to be negotiated. Options range from publicly posting stories online, to sharing media files only for the purposes of education, research, and advocacy in closed workshop forums, to a decision not to share them at all. All options need to be discussed, and agreed upon on a case-by-case basis. Release of materials ought to be an iterative and ongoing process.

Note. DST = digital storytelling.