Onto the next: How the journalism industry fails to offer trauma support
- Lauren Kobley
- Mar 8, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 26, 2023
“Reporters, photojournalists, engineers, soundmen and field producers often work elbow to elbow with emergency workers. Journalists’ symptoms of traumatic stress are remarkably similar to those of police officers and firefighters who work in the immediate aftermath of tragedy, yet journalists typically receive little support after they file their stories. While public-safety workers are offered debriefings and counseling after a trauma, journalists are merely assigned another story,” Al Tompkins for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies said.
What types of trauma are journalists exposed to?
Journalists are frequently exposed to occupational hazards while covering traumatic events. These traumatic events typically fall into three categories: mass disasters, individual atrocities, or direct targets of violence.
Mass disasters can include (but are not limited to) school shootings, wars, floods, fires, bombings, terrorist attacks, genocide and more. Some examples of individual atrocities include car accidents, executions, sexual harassment, kidnappings, domestic violence, murder and individual hate crimes. When journalists are the direct targets of violence they may face verbal or physical threats, online threats, in-the-field harassment, detainment, or sexual violence.
The fact of the matter is the majority of journalists will witness, report on and experience traumatic events throughout their careers.
“Between 80 and 100% of journalists have been exposed to a work-related traumatic event. Many journalists experience repeated exposure. 92% of all journalists surveyed reported experiencing at least 4 traumatic situations'' (Smith, Newman, Drevo & Slaughter).
Reporters often arrive alongside first responders and emergency services. Because of their interactions with victims and trauma as a whole, journalists may tend to build walls between themselves and who/what they are reporting. Sometimes, this wall can get in the way of allowing them to understand and process how their work is negatively affecting their mental health.
Journalists as first responders
“When we talk about journalism and trauma, we immediately think of the war correspondent or the reporter covering a mass disaster like 9/11. We forget about the community police reporter or the local journalist who is reporting about a neighbor who was in a car accident or sexual assault coverage – the daily grind of trauma,” Elana Newman, research director at the DART center for journalism and trauma said.
The need to provide the public with information, especially during a crisis, plays a crucial role in journalism. It is essential that journalists are there to tell the story, but how we are telling it may need to change. Even though reporters are some of the first people on the scene they are last to recognize the implications of being there with emergency crews.
Not only do journalists have to realize the threat their mental health faces when reporting on traumatic events, but they have to learn to understand the other risks they face as well.
Some of those risks include being in close proximity to the perpetrator, a threat of continued violence in the area or a secondary attack (Hight & Smyth). Experiencing these traumatic events can leave lasting impacts on journalists’ mental health and well-being.
If you’re interested in learning more about journalists being first responders from the perspective of working journalists today, read this article from The Texas Observer.
How does trauma reporting affect journalists?
When an adult is responding to trauma three common paths can be followed. These paths are resistance, resilience and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Zielinski & Dworkin). The resistance response can be seen when an individual does not experience any major problems as a result of traumatic events. Resilience, also known as natural recovery, is seen when people may be experiencing symptoms similar to PTSD in the weeks following a traumatic event. However, those symptoms tend to go away on their own with time. The third path, PTSD, is seen in people who experience problems stemming from trauma that don’t go away on their own.
“Despite repeated exposure to work-related traumatic events, most journalists exhibit resilience. This is evidenced by relatively low rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychiatric disorders, despite high trauma exposure” (Smith et al.). Although most journalists exhibit resilience, some are at risk of developing long-term conditions like PTSD.
Major symptoms of PTSD can include re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance symptoms, negative changes in thinking and emotional or physical reactivity (Zielinski & Dworkin). These symptoms can occur immediately after experiencing a traumatic event, but they can also take weeks, months or years to develop.
Re-experiencing symptoms can include flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and nightmares. Avoidance symptoms occur when an individual avoids thinking or talking about the trauma they’ve experienced. The individual also may avoid people, places, or activities that remind them of said trauma. When an individual experiences negative changes in thinking they may feel depressed, angry or anxious. The individual may also find themselves drawing away from people and losing interest in past hobbies. When someone finds themselves always being on high alert after experiencing a traumatic event they may be exhibiting emotional or physical reactivity.
Credit: (Smith et al.)
The DART Center found that journalists’ PTSD rates range from 4 to 59% depending on different risk factors. One risk factor is personally experienced work-related stressors which can include a greater number of traumatic assignments, exposure to war, covering the drug trade, aggression or intimidation (Smith et al.). Other risk factors include time in the field, personal history, social support and cognitive factors (negative beliefs or guilt following the traumatic event).
Managing trauma in the newsroom
Management comes from the top down in almost any organization. It is important for newsroom leaders to have discussions with reporters on their teams about the implications reporting on traumatic events has (Brayne). Conversations need to be had at every step in the process: before, during and after a traumatic event.
Before:
Trauma briefings are essential. It is important for all journalists in a newsroom to understand their organization’s commitment to processing trauma and how it is addressed in their organization’s culture.
Encourage self-care within your team. Self-care looks different for each individual, but little things like making sure you get enough sleep or exercise can make a big difference.
Reassure your colleagues and team that distress is natural and not unusual or shameful. Reporting on traumatic events takes a toll on you mentally, physically and emotionally.
Understand it is up to each individual to decide how they want to process their trauma, but let them know it is important to talk about it to someone.
During:
Newsroom leaders and reporters should keep in regular contact when out on possibly traumatic assignments.
It is important to encourage reporters to take time to decompress before returning from a difficult assignment.
Be cognizant of how a reporter is feeling and understand there is a right place and time for criticism. If a reporter returns from a particularly traumatic assignment their sensitivity may be heightened, and they may not respond to criticism well.
After:
Small gestures make a big difference. Let reporters and colleagues know you are there to support them.
Plan on how to respond to traumatic events. Don’t just consider the noteworthy people who may have been affected but also consider those who play important smaller roles.
Make sure as a reporter you take time to talk about your experiences whether that be with your colleagues, family, friends or boss.
Assess possible PTSD symptoms to get a baseline of where you are at and if you are ready to return to your regular assignments.
Resources
Brayne, M. (2007). Trauma & Journalism. Dart Center. Retrieved March 8, 2023, from https://dartcenter.org/sites/default/files/DCE_JournoTraumaHandbook.pdf
Hight, J., & Smyth, F. (2003). Tragedies & Journalists. Dart Center. Retrieved March 8, 2023, from https://dartcenter.org/sites/default/files/en_tnj_0.pdf
Smith, R., Newman, E., Drevo, S., & Slaughter, A. (2015, July 1). Covering trauma: Impact on journalists. Dart Center. Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://dartcenter.org/content/covering-trauma-impact-on-journalists
Zielinski, M., & Dworkin, E. (2020). Trauma during adulthood. ISTSS. Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://istss.org/public-renIsources/trauma-basics/trauma-during-adulthood
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