Trauma in Journalism

Trauma in Journalism 

By Aidan McDowell 

JRN100 Staff Writer 

 

For years, trauma has been widely ignored in the field of journalism, but Professor Ola Ogunyemi and his colleagues are working to change that. They have formed the Journalism Education and Trauma Research Group, a group dedicated to raising awareness about trauma in journalism. Alongside other journalists, psychologists, and educators, they are working to understand the problem and provide programs and assistance.  

“A lot of research has been done in the past 20 years about trauma, PTSD, and mental health. The problem, however, lies in that journalists and journalism educators have been widely excluded from this research,” said Ogunyemi, the 60-year-old head of the European based branch of the Journalism Education and Trauma Research Group.  

Ogunyemi said he became aware of trauma in journalism two decades ago when he was interviewing journalists in the field. He heard stories of covering tragedies and violence that revealed many journalists had suffered traumatic experiences, but discovered little work had been done to understand the scope of the problem or to help them. 

“I reached out to a few psychologists regarding the issue of trauma and journalism, and after discussing the matter with them, we decided it’d be best to conduct more research. And so, we did, and we soon started uncovering all these cases of journalists suffering trauma,” Ogunyemi said. 

After research had been conducted by Ogunyemi and his group of researchers, the international community had become interested in their study, and chose to help them with funding. Eventually, Ogunyemi and his associates established the Journalism Education and Trauma Research Group, or JETREG, to help make journalists and journalist educators better prepare for whatever mental hurdles come their way. 

“A problem we realized almost immediately was that journalist educators either lacked confidence to teach and talk about trauma, or that educators just didn’t even know where to begin. We hope to fix that, and with JETREG, we hope to establish within journalist curricula a means to help students prepare for whatever incidents they may come across in their careers,” Ogunyemi said. 

In a journal titled, “Should journalism curriculae include trauma resilience training?” Ogunyemi establishes the connection between journalistic trauma and the exposure of journalists to traumatic events.  

Ola Ogunyemi, PhD, is the convener of an international multidisciplinary Journalism Education and Trauma Research Group (JETREG). 

In the journal, Ogunyemi describes how journalists who are regularly exposed to traumatic events are more likely to suffer from PTSD. He also concludes that when educating and teaching journalism students, they are not taught effective methods that build up their resilience to such traumatic encounters, leaving them poorly prepared to grapple with the dark realities of journalism. 

Additionally, in an article presented by the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs titled, “Journalists and PTSD,” written by Elisa E. Bolton, she discusses how several recent studies have revealed the increased rates of psychological distress for some journalists, especially those, such as war correspondents in the field. It is in these assignments, that involve life threatening encounters, that allows for PTSD amongst journalists to flourish. Constantly witnessing death, dying, and human suffering has a disastrous effect on the human psyche, and acknowledging the connections between these incidents and journalists is paramount to understanding trauma in journalism.  

“By making these connections, we can raise awareness as to the importance of trauma education in journalism,” Ogunyemi said.  

Ogunyemi has said journalists face several major hurdles in their careers. The round-the-clock news cycles that modern journalists have become accustomed to and the constant spew of information has really added to the competition, demands, and stress in the industry. 

Compared to journalists of the past, Ogunyemi has expressed how journalists today face far greater issues and stresses than when he was a journalist in the field. He laments how when he was in the field, journalists were not as overwhelmed as they are today, due in part to journalists having a much easier schedule. 

“Journalists have it much harder today compared to journalists in the past. In the past, Journalists had a fixed schedule, they went to work, they came home, and that was that. Today, a journalist’s work never ends. They are constantly receiving information on social media and are constantly having to pay attention to online media. It’s all just very overwhelming,” Ogunyemi said. 

Talia Lakritz of Business Insider agrees that journalists are under a lot of pressure. 

“A journalist's atmosphere is very fast-paced. I feel like I learn something new every day and have to think quickly on my feet as I'm covering a variety of stories. I've been at Insider for almost six years and it's a really wonderful, supportive newsroom. At the same time, there are definitely pressures to meet metric goals, which can be stressful,” said Lakritz. 

Lakritz, who lives in New York City and is working as a senior reporter, also said politicians have in recent years demonized journalists, creating a hostile public environment for them to work in.  

“I think it's worsened. President Trump's ‘enemy of the people’ approach to journalists definitely changed the air. As a woman in journalism, I also experience more online harassment than my male peers as well,” Lakritz said.  

She said she has noticed a growing awareness of mental health issues in the industry. 

“I've seen more conversations and resources around mental health in journalism over the past few years. Insider has offered sessions on trauma in the news and occasionally sends out emails reminding employees of mental health resources during difficult news cycles,” Lakritz said. 

Ogunyemi has said journalists need to beware of getting overwhelmed. He recommended logging off phones and computers as an effective way to de-stress. 

"To destress, one must unplug! It’s important to take a break and just have time to breathe.” Said Ogunyemi. 

Lakritz and Ogunyemi both commented on how hard it is to unplug because news never stops, but while it’s important to stay informed about what's happening, journalists must take care of themselves and their mental health. 

“Journalism is an identity, an integral part of who you are. That's great, but it doesn't have to be all that you are,” Lakritz said.