How To Productively Take Breaks from Journalism
Journalism is a high stress career. Around two-thirds of journalists report that they “are negatively affected by graphic and disturbing stories,” which lead to burnout. 56 percent of media workers also reported receiving online harassment or threats. One in 10 journalists has considered suicide due to these traumas. Shockingly, around 61 percent of these respondents said their newsrooms or places of employment did not offer any mental health resources.
Constant trauma with no break is a recipe for burnout. And since 2020, things have been especially traumatic for journalists, according to The Self-Investigation trainer Aldara Martitegui.
“For the first time, we had to report on a hard and difficult reality that was affecting us at the same time,” she said, in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in March of 2020. “Many of us saw that we lacked the tools to manage such a situation…this led journalists to be more open to the possibility of [acknowledging that] we are missing the emotional tools that they don’t teach us in [journalism] school.”
In order to avoid burnout, journalists will need to develop some emotional tools on their own as well as seek out support in light of traumatic experiences. Studies show that journalists’ lifetime prevalence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is on par with that of first responders such as EMTs and police officers. Drawing firm boundaries for yourself and with your employers around what stories you are willing to engage with can greatly reduce the risk of long-term PTSD, says Martitegui. “We see a lot of frustration in journalists who are overwhelmed by the amount of work they take on, and they feel unable to say ‘enough, this is it, I can’t do this.’ There’s a lot of fear,” she said.
“It really does come down to boundaries and expectations, and making sure what those are,” said Phoebe Gavin, executive director of talent and development at Vox. “They can't expect their partner or their boss or their team member to magically just know what they need.”
The Self-Investigation also suggests doing other things to recharge your emotional batteries and get into your “green zone.” “Activities that get you out of your head and into your sensing body are especially important (listening to music, seeing nature, gardening, knitting, meditation, conscious movement, breath work just to name a few),” it recommends. It also suggests relying more on your community: other journalists can more easily relate to your situation. “It helps us connect again with those [journalistic] values, principles and goals, and feel that fire and passion for the profession again,” said Martitegui.
At the end of the day, journalists need to prioritize their health in order to do their job. Without healthy journalists, there is no journalism, and levels of burnout and turnover in the profession are rising. Journalists must be firm, clear, and assertive with their boundaries and what kind of support they need in order to cover potentially traumatic stories, and they need resources to protect them from online threats and harassment. It is imperative that the safety and mental health of journalists take top priority in order to keep the industry operative.
