Journalists and mental health: The psychological toll of covering everyday trauma

Abstract

Journalists are often first responders and eyewitnesses to violent news events. Trauma reporting can take its toll, resulting in mental health effects. Addressing the solution requires understanding the problem. This multimethod study used a national survey of journalists (N = 254) that shows that as trauma coverage frequency and intensity increase, so does the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. In-depth interviews offer personal narratives of effects from traumatic reporting. Common coping mechanisms include disconnecting from work in various ways, purging emotions, talking about trauma, and remembering their jobs’ higher purposes. Suggestions include humanizing the newsroom and teaching about trauma reporting.

Keywords

crisis reporting journalism mental health newsroom culture post-traumatic stress disorder trauma journalism

Good journalism, a pillar of civil society, depends on healthy journalists.

—Anthony Feinstein

Journalists are often first responders to news events—sometimes arriving on the scene before police or paramedics. Shootings, natural disasters, wars, fatal accidents—reporters are often firsthand witnesses to these events. In the aftermath, they are responsible for retelling the stories of victims and grieving loved ones. Due to the nature of the job, journalists—like police officers, firefighters, and soldiers—are a high-risk population for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), emotional distress, compassion fatigue, and trauma-related guilt (Browne, Evangeli, & Greenberg, 2012; Dworznik, 2018; Feinstein, Owen, & Blair, 2002; Feinstein, Pavisian, & Storm, 2018; Monteiro, Marques Pinto, & Roberto, 2016; Simpson & Boggs, 1999).

Mental wellness is often an afterthought in newsroom culture, especially for reporters working for smaller news outlets without the resources or awareness to address work-related trauma (Browne et al., 2012; Dworznik & Grubb, 2007; Jukes, 2015). Journalists may enter into the profession with little understanding of how to handle traumatic story coverage and a limited awareness of how they may be affected psychologically by their work. This lack of emotional literacy compounded with a newsroom culture that promotes “suffering in silence” (Buchanan & Keats, 2011, p. 128) can result in journalists who are hesitant to seek treatment or support for burnout, depression, or PTSD symptoms.An abundance of research has examined the nature and effects of war reporting (Allan & Zelizer, 2004; Feinstein, Osmann, & Patel, 2018; Feinstein, Wanga, & Owen, 2015; Markham, 2011; Matloff, 2004; Schmickle, 2007) and the coverage of large-scale catastrophes, such as migrant crisis, terrorist attacks of 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina (Bull & Newman, 2003; Feinstein, Pavisian, & Storm, 2018; Sylvester & Huffman, 2002). Traumatic stress symptoms are not limited to reporters who cover war and other large-scale disasters, but fewer studies have explored the everyday traumas encountered by journalists on the domestic beat who witness violence and tragedy routinely and are tasked with interviewing victims of trauma and their grieving loved ones.

Using a national survey of journalists, this study examined the relationship between the frequency and intensity of traumatic news coverage and symptoms of PTSD. The empirical analysis is supplemented by qualitative data from interviews with a subset of journalists who took part in the survey.

Trauma Reporting

Journalists experience both primary and secondary trauma. Reporters are akin to first responders who arrive first to a crime or disaster scene and witness violence and destruction firsthand (Himmelstein & Faithorn, 2002; Massé, 2011; Melki et al., 2013; Rentschler, 2009). Like therapists—who through the process of “transference” can vicariously experience their patients’ emotional pain—reporters may also experience a type of indirect, secondary trauma through the victims they interview and the graphic scenes to which they must bear witness (Beam & Spratt, 2009; McCann & Pearlman, 1990; Rentschler, 2010).

But mental health and trauma have only recently entered the mainstream discussion of journalism practices. An early study that shifted focus from war reporters to domestic beat reporters found that nearly 86% of beat reporters had covered one or more violent events at the scene, including earthquakes, murders, executions, sexual assaults, drownings, and plane crashes (Simpson & Boggs, 1999). Other studies have documented the effects of routine trauma coverage on domestic reporters using surveys and interviews (Dworznik, 2006; Keats & Buchanan, 2009; Lee, Ha, & Pae, 2017; McMahon, 2001; Pyevich, Newman & Daleiden, 2003; Simpson & Boggs, 1999; Smith, Drevo, & Newman, 2018).

These studies indicated positive relationships between trauma coverage and negative mood states, such as guilt, sadness, helplessness, fear, and an overall negative worldview (Browne et al., 2012; McMahon, 2001; Pyevich, Newman, & Daleiden, 2003). Simpson and Boggs (1999) found that the frequency of trauma coverage was positively correlated with self-reported PTSD symptoms of intrusion and avoidance. Feinstein, Pavisian, and Storm (2018) found that while PTSD symptoms were not prevalent in journalists covering the refugee and migrant crisis, symptoms of moral injury, or feelings that one transgressed their conscience, were prominent. These studies followed earlier work on war correspondents, which generally found that combat reporters had higher rates of PTSD, depression, and alcohol consumption compared with non-combat reporters (Feinstein et al., 2002; Monteiro et al., 2016).

The news industry’s changing landscape has increased the demands put on journalists, making them more likely to cover traumatic stories and more likely to cover these types of stories more frequently. Jobs in newsrooms fell about 23% in the last decade, with the greatest decline at newspapers (Pew Research Center, 2018). Staff cutbacks mean more work to be done by individual reporters, who are often tasked with covering more jurisdictions and becoming a “jack-of-all-trades” (Keats & Buchanan, 2009)—multiple beats, and not just writing, but taking photographs and video. A reporter who once covered only education may, because of staff cutbacks, become a general assignment reporter and perhaps cover crime (Santana & Russial, 2013).

PTSD and Other Mental Health Indicators

PTSD is a psychiatric condition first codified in 1980 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III; APA, 1980). The diagnoses arose in part due to pressure from advocates for Vietnam War veterans, who wanted to eliminate stigma surrounding post-traumatic stress and link it directly with the war experience (Van der Kolk, 2002). Since its appearance in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the disorder’s stressors list has been expanded to a variety of patients and occupations, including victims of sexual assault, war correspondents, victims of natural disasters, family members of victims of trauma, and high-risk occupations such as police work.

Symptoms of the disorder include intrusion symptoms, avoidance symptoms, negative cognitions, and/or arousal symptoms. Intrusion symptoms may consist of recurrent and distressing memories or dreams of the traumatic event or flashbacks. Avoidance symptoms include avoiding cues, reminders, or memories of the event. Negative cognitions may consist of having a pessimistic worldview; persistent negative emotional states such as guilt, horror, or fear; or feelings of detachment or depressive moods. Arousal symptoms can manifest as reckless behavior, startled responses, or concentration problems.

The stressor criteria of PTSD are not limited to direct exposure. Other diagnostic criteria include witnessing traumatic events as they occur to others or experiencing extreme and/or repeated exposure to aversive details of traumatic event. Thus, secondary or indirect exposure to trauma can also be considered a trigger of PTSD. The manual indicates that exposure to aversive details through photos and other electronic media is considered a diagnostic criterion if the exposure is work-related. Photographers who shoot crime scenes or video editors who routinely watch and edit social media postings of ISIS beheadings, for example, may experience this form of PTSD (Newman, Simpson, & Handschuh, 2003).

Not all journalists who experience work-related trauma have post-traumatic symptoms that reach the full diagnostic criteria in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; APA, 2013), but any stress-related symptoms should not be taken lightly. According to McMahon (2010), negative psychological health effects in any form are the “ingredients of PTSD.” Symptoms that go unacknowledged may build up over time or become exacerbated, threatening the mental health of news professionals. Individuals with untreated PTSD have a high risk of having the disorder a decade or more after developing PTSD, leading to costly health care (Priebe et al., 2009). Emotional impairment, suicide attempts, long hospital stays, and emotional impairment are all risks associated with untreated PTSD (Davidson, 2000). In addition, PTSD commonly occurs with other psychiatric disorders, such as major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder (Brady, Killeen, Brewerton, & Lucerini, 2000; Coughlin, 2012). What’s more, as the nature of emotional injury is often hidden and less openly addressed within the field, it can sometimes be even more dangerous than physical injury (McMahon, 2010; Rentschler, 2009).

Journalistic Training and Newsroom Culture

Traditional journalistic norms and values which permeate newsrooms can encourage a “check your feelings at the door” mentality (Beam & Spratt, 2009; Feinstein et al., 2002). In Feinstein’s research on the psychological health of war reporters, he called attention to the “macho culture” of the newsroom (Feinstein et al., 2002), which stemmed, in part, from the perception that the introduction of emotion into reporting practices resulted in a softening or “feminization” of news (Tumber & Prentoulis, 2003).

Bravado and denial were considered values, especially in war reporting (Feinstein, 2006). Admitting weakness did not fit with the trope of the detached reporter; there was no place for emotion in objective reporting, because emotion means involvement, and involvement gets in the way of truth-telling (Hammond, 2002). This idea creates a newsroom culture that promotes silence and suppression rather than expression. In other words, “An admission of emotional distress in a macho world was feared as a sign of weakness and a career liability” (Feinstein et al., 2002, p. 1574).

Thus, the acknowledgment of post-traumatic stress symptoms may be perceived by journalists as violating an “unwritten code” (Dworznik, 2007, p. 537) or a “newsroom ethos” (Depalma, 2009, p. 47). There is a real concern that reaching out to a supervisor regarding a mental health issue would cast one as weak, incompetent, or not cut out for the job (Dworznik, 2007). Rigid organizational norms that stigmatize emotional expression within newsrooms could be detrimental to reporters’ mental health by encouraging silence, preventing reporters from seeking treatment, and exacerbating work-related post-traumatic stress symptoms (Smith et al., 2018).

Training and resources related to trauma reporting are lacking in newsrooms. Public safety workers such as firefighters and police officers are expected, and even required, to participate in trauma training, counseling, and debriefings because of their firsthand experience in traumatic situations and because of their close work with trauma victims. Certainly, awareness of mental health issues in newsrooms has increased in the past two decades, but trauma training and resources are often an afterthought for most newsrooms (Buchanan & Keats, 2011; Melki et al., 2013).

To begin to tackle this problem, it is important to understand the impact of trauma reporting on journalists’ mental well-being, particularly for reporters who cover trauma daily on their local beats. To determine the relationship between trauma coverage frequency, and intensity, the following hypotheses and research question were posed:

H1: (a) Frequency of trauma coverage and (b) intensity of trauma coverage will positively predict severity of PTSD symptoms.

RQ1: Which of the four PTSD symptoms (hyperarousal, intrusion, negative cognitions, avoidance) are experienced the most by respondents?

To situate the empirical evidence in context, qualitative interviews with journalists were conducted to answer the following research questions:

RQ2: How do journalists articulate their experiences covering trauma and their coping mechanisms?

RQ3: Do journalists feel comfortable seeking social support and acknowledging emotional distress in their workplace? Why or why not?

Method

This multimethod study used both quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data to paint a well-rounded picture of trauma journalism and its effects. Regression analysis served to identify whether PTSD symptoms were more severe for journalists who cover traumatic stories more frequently than others, whereas interview data sought to understand how journalists cope with trauma and what factors influence their support-seeking behaviors.

The survey’s target population was U.S. newspaper journalists. The Editor & Publisher data book was used to identify all U.S. daily newspapers. Email addresses of reporters and photojournalists were collected from each of these newspapers’ websites, resulting in emails sent to journalists at 420 U.S. daily newspapers with employee contact info available online. Email invitations containing a request for participation and a link to an institutional review board (IRB)-approved Qualtrics survey were sent to 4,110 journalists. As recommended by Dillman (2000), to maximize response rates, a second and third follow-up email was sent 2 weeks and 4 weeks, respectively, after the initial email request.

Of the 277 surveys completed and returned, 23 cases were incomplete and discarded. Thus, the final sample contained a total of 254 respondents, for a response rate of about 7%. Response rates in similar studies on journalists and trauma have been similarly low, with some in the 8% to 15% range (Brown, Evangeli & Greenberg, 2012; Newman et al., 2003). The majority of respondents (78%) identified as reporters, while 22% identified as photojournalists. About a third (31%) of respondents had worked as a reporter or photojournalist for fewer than 5 years. Nearly 40% of the sample had between 6 and 20 years of experience, while 29% had more than 20 years of experience in their current role. Nearly half (47%) of respondents worked for mid-sized news outlets (circulation between 10,000 and 50,000), 11% were employed at smaller news outlets (circulation less than 10,000), and 42% were employed at larger outlets with a circulation size above 50,000. Nearly 80% of the sample had earned an undergraduate degree, while 14% earned a master’s degree. Females comprised 57% of the sample. The mean age was 39.34 years (SD = 13.77).

Qualitative Interviews

Qualitative data situate statistics in context (McCracken, 1988) and allow for a more nuanced understanding of an issue (Robinson & Mendelson, 2012). Supplementing quantitative data with qualitative data in research about journalists’ experiences helps to “authorize tales of journalistic witnessing” (Rentschler, 2009, p. 107). Interview participants consisted of a subset (n = 24) of the sample of journalists who completed the survey. A question in the online questionnaire asked whether the respondent was interested in participating in a telephone interview to discuss his or her journalism experiences; a total of 94 participants indicated interest. Invitations to schedule a phone interview were emailed to interested participants 3 weeks after the survey data were collected in January 2017. A total of 24 journalists (nine males and 15 females) responded to the invitation and were interviewed by telephone.

Journalists from 16 states were interviewed: Arizona, California, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. Each interview was recorded and transcribed. The average interview length was 23 min, with the shortest interview lasting 11 min and the longest interview lasting 47 min (see Table 1 for details). Interviewed journalists were promised anonymity and assigned a pseudonym.

Table 1

Descriptive Information About Interview Participants

Pseudonym	Role	Years of experience	Newspaper region
Samantha	Reporter	10	Midwest
Ashley	Reporter	4	Northwest
Tammy	Reporter	15	Southeast
Sophie	Reporter	35	Northwest
Sharon	Reporter	8	Midwest
Nancy	Reporter	6	Midwest
Rachel	Reporter	7	Northwest
Lisa	Reporter	2	Northwest
Anna	Reporter	Less than 1	Midwest
Joanna	Reporter	15	Northeast
Melanie	Reporter	3	Northeast
Pam	Reporter	1	Midwest
Susan	Reporter	1	Northeast
Evelyn	Reporter	4	Southeast
Joyce	Reporter	5	Northeast
Zach	Reporter	1	Northwest
Steve	Photojournalist	6	Midwest
Richard	Photojournalist	30	Midwest
Jason	Reporter	2	Midwest
Cory	Reporter	30	Northeast
David	Reporter	30+	Southeast
Joe	Photojournalist	20	Midwest
Howard	Reporter	31	Southwest
Ethan	Reporter	31	Northwest

Survey Measures

Trauma coverage

An adapted version of the Journalism Trauma Exposure Scale (JTES; Pyevich et al., 2003) was used to measure both the frequency and intensity of trauma coverage by journalists. The JTES has been used in numerous studies about journalism and trauma (Backholm & Björkqvist, 2012; Browne et al., 2012; Pyevich et al., 2003).

Consistent with Browne et al. (2012), the response choices in the original JTES subscale which measured frequency of traumatic event coverage using 14 open-ended items were altered to 5-point Likert-style scales (1 = never, 2 = once or twice total, 3 = every few months, 4 = most months, 5 = weekly) to increase variability and be less burdensome on participants, who would otherwise be required to estimate the number of times in the past year they covered a specific event within the past year.

Also consistent with Browne et al. (2012), an additional traumatic event was added to the frequency measure—events involving child abuse or cruelty. Thus, in this adapted scale, frequency of trauma coverage is measured with 15 items, asking how often participants covered certain types of events, such as natural disasters, murders, aircraft accidents, car accidents, sexual assault, kidnappings, and fires. Items were averaged into an overall measure of trauma coverage frequency, with higher scores indicating more trauma coverage (M = 2.17, SD = 0.60). Intensity of trauma coverage was measured with nine dichotomous items (Yes, No) asking various questions about the nature of the respondent’s experience covering trauma. For example, participants were asked how often they have covered traumatic events “on the scene,” whether they were physically harmed during coverage, if they had to tell family members or friends about the death of a loved one, and so on. Items with “yes” responses were summed for an overall measure of trauma coverage intensity, with higher scores indicating higher intensity (M = 3.89, SD = 2.01).

Personal stressors

To distinguish effects of personal trauma from work-related trauma, personal life stressors were measured and used as a control variable in the analysis. Items from the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire (Kubany et al., 2000) measured non–work-related personal trauma, such as being in a car accident or the recent death of a loved one. A total of seven items were used, with dichotomous (Yes, No) response items. “Yes” responses were summed into an overall measure of non–work-related trauma (M = 1.91, SD = 1.41).

Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction as a control variable was measured with two items from the Generic Job Satisfaction Scale (MacDonald & MacIntrye 1997). The control variable was measured to differentiate traumatic symptoms resulting from disliking one’s job and trauma symptoms that result from traumatic assignment coverage. These items were measured on a 7-point Likert-style scale (1 = strongly agree, 7 = strongly disagree). Measures were averaged into an overall score of job satisfaction, with higher scores indicating more job satisfaction (M = 5.73, SD = 1.22, r = .72). Items were “Overall, I feel good about my job” and “Overall, I find my work satisfying.”

PTSD symptoms

Severity of PTSD symptoms was measured with the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) developed by Weathers et al. (2013) to correspond with the occurrence of PTSD symptoms, according to criteria in the most recent DSM edition. When the DSM was updated for the fifth edition, a fourth symptom (negative cognitions) has been added to the PTSD diagnostic criteria. This criterion had not been adequately captured by researchers prior to 2013 due to its recent addition to the DSM. The PCL-5 measured symptoms of hyperarousal (M = 2.17, SD = 0.73), avoidance (M = 1.99, SD = 0.88), negative cognitions (M = 1.93, SD = 0.76), and intrusion (M = 1.76, SD = 0.68). Responses were measured on a 5-point scale (1 = never to 5 = most of the time). Examples of items include “Loss of interest in things you used to enjoy,” “Feeling jumpy or easily startled,” and “Feeling distant or cut off from other people.” Five items measured intrusion symptoms, two items measured avoidance symptoms, seven items measured negative cognitions, and six items measured hyperarousal. Symptom severity was calculated by averaging the scores for each symptom separately. An overall PTSD symptom severity score was calculated by averaging all 20 items (M = 1.96, SD = 0.65).

Survey Results

To explore H1, a hierarchical multiple regression was performed. In Step 1, control variables were added, which included job satisfaction and personal life stress, years of experience, and the dummy-coded variables of gender (male or female) and journalistic role with which participants identified (journalist or photojournalist). These predictors explained about 14.4% (r₂ = .14) of the variance in PTSD severity, F(5, 248) = 8.37.

In Step 2, the primary predictors—trauma coverage frequency and trauma coverage intensity—were entered. After the addition of trauma coverage frequency and intensity in Step 2, the total variance explained was 23.2% (r₂ = .23), F(7, 246 = 10.62). Both trauma coverage frequency (β = .18, p < .01) and trauma coverage intensity (β = .18, p < .05) emerged as significant predictors of PTSD severity. Thus, H1a and H1b were supported. Table 2 displays statistics for the first two steps of the regression model predicting PTSD.

Table 2

Hierarchical Regression Analysis Predicting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Severity

Predictors	Model 1				Model 2
Predictors	B	SE	β	p	B	SE	β	p
Job satisfaction	−.16	.03	−.30	.000**	−.15	.03	−.27	.000**
Personal life stress	.10	.03	.22	.000**	.06	.03	.14	.02*
Gender	−.08	.08	−.06	.33	−.02	.08	−.01	.83
Role	−.09	.09	−.06	.31	−.02	.09	−.01	.81
Years of experience	−.03	.02	−.10	.11	−.04	.02	−.13	.06
Trauma coverage frequency					.20	.07	.18	.009**
Trauma coverage intensity					.06	.02	.18	.015*
	R² = .14, F(5, 248) = 8.37, p < .001				ΔR² = .09, ΔF(7, 246) = 14.03, p < .001

p < .05, **p < .01.

R1 asked about the severity of each of the four main symptom criteria for PTSD. Symptoms of hyperarousal, marked by heightened anxiety, difficulty sleeping or concentrating, and irritability and outbursts, had the highest mean (M = 2.17) compared with other symptoms. Avoidance symptoms, characterized by avoiding talking about, thinking about, or visiting places associated with negative emotions, were the second most common symptoms reported. Negative cognition (M = 1.93) was the third most common symptom category. These symptoms include hopelessness, detachment, loss of interest, and sadness. Participants reported intrusion symptoms as the least common of the four, with a mean of 1.76. Table 3 displays the means and standard deviations of all four symptom categories of PTSD.

Table 3

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Occurrence (N = 254)

	M	SD
Total intrusion	1.76	0.68
Repeated thoughts, memories	2.06	0.93
Repeated disturbing dreams	1.74	0.87
Reliving stressful event	1.45	0.73
Feeling very upset at reminders of stressful event	1.92	0.89
Having physical reaction when reminded of stressful event	1.61	0.82
Total avoidance	1.99	0.86
Avoid thinking or talking about stressful event	2.29	1.14
Avoid activities or situations that remind you of event	1.68	0.87
Total negative emotions	1.93	0.76
Trouble remembering parts of stressful event	1.61	0.88
Having strong negative beliefs about yourself	2.16	1.10
Blaming yourself or someone else for stressful event	1.63	0.83
Having strong negative feelings, such as fear, anger, or shame	2.15	0.98
Loss of interest in things you once enjoyed	1.83	0.94
Feeling distant or cut off from others	2.21	1.11
Trouble experiencing positive feelings	1.90	1.01
Total hyperarousal	2.17	0.73
Irritability, outburst, or acting aggressively	1.95	0.89
Risky behavior	1.65	0.81
Trouble falling or staying asleep	2.61	1.19
Difficulty concentrating	2.37	1.00
Being super alert or watchful	2.43	1.13
Feeling jumpy or easily startled	2.03	0.99

Note. Item responses ranged from 1 = never to 5 = most of the time.

Qualitative Findings

On-the-Job Trauma Experiences and Psychological Effects

Statistical data confirm that as trauma coverage frequency and intensity increase, journalists experience significantly higher PTSD symptom severity. Qualitative data added context to these findings, showing how work-related trauma affected them personally and socially and how they coped with traumatic stress symptoms. Again, RQ2 asked how journalists described their personal experiences with traumatic story assignments and how they were affected by them. Reporters described a range of experiences covering trauma, including acts of violence such as mass shootings, murder-homicides, executions, sexual assaults, domestic violence, kidnappings and hostage situations, as well as accidents, such as a drowning, fatal car wrecks, an earthquake, and a mudslide that killed 43 people. Covering stories involving harm to or death of children were mentioned by nearly a dozen journalists as the toughest and most memorable assignments. While many assignments described were breaking news crime stories, others pointed to in-depth, investigative pieces as being the most troubling because of immersing oneself in the story for an extended period of time and getting to know people involved.

Richard, a photojournalist for 30 years at various Midwestern newspapers, described covering protests in Ferguson, Missouri, for months at a time in 2014, after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a Black teenager, by a White police officer:

We lived and breathed Ferguson for eight months nonstop. There were a lot of long nights working, and things got really heated, really intense. Emotions were high. It was emotionally draining, especially with social media constantly abuzz. Those are the stories where you really just take that stuff home with you. It’s not an experience I’d want to revisit. (Richard, personal communication, n.d.)

Richard said the emotional drain he felt when covering the Ferguson riots turned to physical drain. At times, the mental and physical fatigue, combined with the story’s pervasiveness. made it difficult for him to get to work: “I’d get up in the morning and say, ‘Ok, there is no way I can go to work today’. You just hit a wall, and there is no getting away. Social media was constantly abuzz.”

Other in-depth assignments mentioned during interviews included a profile on a terminally ill child, stories about refugee families fleeing violence in Mexico and being split up after deportation, an investigative piece on child sex trafficking, and a series of stories on a woman who was sexually assaulted by a family member.

Nancy, a journalist for 6 years at a Midwest newspaper, described remaining in touch with a woman whom she interviewed about being sexually abused as a child. The story involved reading graphic police reports and extensively interviewing the victim. Nancy said she often felt “rageful” when thinking about the details in the police reports—even when she was not at work—and she acknowledged that her empathetic nature often causes her to “absorb” her interview participants’ pain in a way that can cause anxiety and discomfort in her daily life: “I thought about the story a lot off the clock—in the shower, walking my dog. I carried it around with me for weeks. I immersed myself in it” (Nancy, personal communication, n.d.).

Nearly half of those interviewed described witnessing firsthand violent crimes and accidents and their gruesome aftermaths, resulting in mental images that stuck with them for many months. Some said they could still remember the smells of accident scenes. For example, Joe, a Midwest photojournalist for 20 years, recalled photographing a car accident:

I once photographed a girl who died in a wreck. Then I had to go back to the newsroom and make prints and copies of the photos, so I was reliving it again. I’ll always remember that scene—what her body looked like, the smell of the wreck.

Joe said memories of the wreck come back during everyday activities: “I’m watching a television show and a violent scene comes on, and I get the weirdest reaction. I’m suddenly reminded of that wreck.”

Memories and mental images of people in pain were described by several journalists as “heavy” (Lisa, a Northwest journalist for 2 years) and like “carrying a burden” (David, reporter for 30 years) (Lisa and David, personal communications, n.d.). Again, Nancy, a Midwest journalist for 6 years, remarked that by interviewing victims, she felt she “absorbed people’ s feelings” (Nancy, personal communication, n.d.).

Although the majority of journalists said they liked or loved their job, a few mentioned their dislike of covering breaking news and crime, and four journalists said they had to switch beats because of emotional burnout. One newcomer to the field, Anna with less than a year at a Midwest newspaper, explained why she asked to switch beats just a few months into her first job:

The crime beat is not my cup of tea. It wasn’t so much one story that did it, but the combined effect of all the stories. I mean, one week you are writing about a family with a missing daughter, then the next week you’re talking to a mom whose daughter committed suicide, and then the next week it’s a murder sentencing in court. After a while, the cumulative effect really started to affect my mental health. And I felt like I couldn’t say ‘no’ to an assignment. (Anna, personal communication, n.d.)

Interviewed journalists typically discussed their mental health symptoms openly. Reported effects of covering trauma were wide-ranging, including PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, guilt, sadness and general discomfort.

Post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression

One reporter, Samantha, a Midwest journalist for 10 years, explicitly described her symptoms as “kind of like PTSD,” whereas others described experiencing symptoms of avoidance, hypervigilance, intrusion, and negative cognitions that are indicative of post-traumatic stress. For example, Samantha described reexperiencing negative emotions associated with a fatal wreck she covered several years prior. The wreck killed the family of a girl—the sole survivor—who was found crying next to the bodies of her family members:

It was absolutely the worst crash scene I’d ever scene. It still affects me. I have kids in college, and I am the most terrible worrier about their safety on the roads. When driving a few times, I have had some recurring panic attacks. And occasionally I used to have to take medication when my husband was driving me on longer trips. I’ve talked to a counselor about it—it’s kind of like PTSD in a way. (Samantha, personal communication, n.d.)

A similar experience of associating places with negative feelings and memories was described by veteran reporter Howard, who was often reminded of the time he witnessed a women’s suicide underneath a California bridge: “I pass this bridge all the time going to work. Every time I pass that bridge, I think about her. There is no way to avoid it” (Howard, personal communication, n.d.).

Five journalists reported having trouble sleeping during traumatic story assignments. Two journalists revealed they had been clinically diagnosed with anxiety and depression on and off for 17 years, and both said that their symptoms were sometimes triggered or exacerbated by traumatic story assignments. Anna, who recently switched to the public health beat, said she was irritable and had trouble sleeping while working the crime beat: “I ended up going to therapy and was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. They identified my job as a major factor. Since switching beats, my symptoms have gone way down” (Anna, personal communication, n.d.). Ethan, a reporter with 30 years of experience, said he was also diagnosed with depression during the years he covered murders, drug crimes and shootings: “Was my depression directly related to the trauma related to my work? No. Has it been a factor? Yes” (Ethan, personal communication, n.d.).

Guilt

Previous studies have found that guilt cognitions are common when journalists feel tensions between their duty as news gatherers and their moral responsibilities as human beings (Amend, Kay, & Reilly, 2012; Browne et al., 2012). Several journalists reported feeling guilt and shame when approaching victims, for fear that they were being insensitive, retraumatizing victims or invading someone’s privacy. Joyce, a Northeast journalist for 5 years, recalled the drowning of a young boy in a local pond. It took days for divers to recover the body, and news media from all over the state swarmed to the town:

I remember going into a coffee shop to grab a coffee, and there were a bunch of family members of the boy in there. They saw my press badge, and I could just see the looks on their faces. The media was really weighing on the family, and I didn’t want to add any more pain with my presence. (Joyce, personal communication, n.d.)

Delayed reactions

A few reports said emotional reactions hit them the hardest after a traumatic story was completed. Adrenaline would kick in during the news gathering and news writing process, but a few hours later, these reporters had the time to think about what they experienced. According to Tammy, a reporter for 15 years, her outward composure while covering a story masked what she really felt: “We are made to be so much tougher because we have to keep everything on a surface level. But then eight days later, you are crying in your bed” (Tammy, personal communication, n.d.). Another journalist, Cory (Northeast journalist for 30 years), remarked,

You kind of get caught up in the action of all of it. You’re so busy doing your job that you don’t fully process the moment and all of its implications, which I guess could make reporters seem jaded or hard-hearted. But then later on, when you have the time, you reflect back on it, and then you feel it. (Cory, personal communication, n.d.)

Coping Mechanisms

Again, RQ3 asked how journalists cope with traumatic news coverage. Talking about their experiences, disconnecting from work, use of substances and engaging in risky behavior, and remembering the rewards of the job were primary themes that emerged among interview subjects. Empathetic interviewing and compartmentalizing were also cited by some as useful strategies.

Talking About the Trauma

More than half of journalists reported that talking about their story assignments was beneficial. This strategy was frequently described as “venting” or “unloading on” loved ones, co-workers, or counselors.

“My wife is always on my side,” said Joe, a veteran reporter (Joe, personal communication, n.d.). Ethan, a reporter with 30 years of experience, is married to a psychologist and commented that he and his spouse both deal with secondary trauma: “We feed each other our emotional baggage from our incredibly taxing jobs” (Ethan, personal communication, n.d.).

Three journalists said that talking about work trauma with family and significant others is sometimes difficult and often more painful than beneficial, especially when they did not want to burden them. Sharon said this of her partner:

Some days I couldn’t even talk about work; I couldn’t even wrap my head around the depravity. Knowing that I had a partner who was willing to listen was good, but it was hard to talk about. At some point, it all just becomes brain vomit. It’s hard to communicate the high-level emotions that I was feeling. (Sharon, personal communication, n.d.)

Talking with colleagues, especially those who also cover similar stories, and the use of gallows humor to “make light of the serious things” (Sophie, Northwest journalist for 35 years) were mentioned by about a third of journalists as a helpful activity (Sophie, personal communication, n.d.).

Seven journalists interviewed were currently seeing, or at some point in their careers saw, a counselor or psychiatrist. They called talking to counselors “helpful,” “cathartic,” and useful to ease feelings of “burnout.” Howard, a Southeast journalist for 31 years, said of therapy after covering the murder of two children:

A psychologist helped me get through it. She told me to imagine that I was putting those horrible, sad feelings I had into a closet and locking the door, but that I had the key, and I could get to those memories whenever I needed to. She also encouraged me to go to the boys’ graves and say goodbye. It helped me a lot, and I will always be grateful for that. (Howard, personal communication, n.d.)

All but one said their experiences in therapy were positive. It is important to note that the journalist who reported having a negative experience in therapy also commented that, in hindsight, she wished she would have continued therapy and should have been more open to it.

Disconnecting

The emotional labor of a journalist was often referred to as inescapable—“a 24/7 job” (Sophie, personal communication, n.d.). As a way to decompress, about half of those interviewed mentioned they tried to find activities that kept their minds off work or at least kept their minds off the emotional baggage of work. These activities included exercising, working on hobbies, watching television and listening to music, keeping the mind busy, and taking breaks at work. Eight journalists said exercise, such as running, yoga, hiking, and swimming, was a crucial form of stress relief.

“Therapeutic” hobbies, such as art, spending time with pets, camping, gardening, golf, and horseback riding, were also mentioned as forms of escape. “I’ll do some artwork or work around the house. Any sort of activity you can do for an hour and not think about work,” said Joanna, a journalist for 15 years (Joanna, personal communication, n.d.). The phrase “getting away from work” was often used, as though work was always on the mind, even after leaving the office. One journalist mentioned making it a habit never to check work emails at home. Another Ethan, a Northwest journalist of 31 years, said he tried to turn his “brain off” by watching “mindless sitcoms” or reading hobby magazines (Ethan, personal communication, n.d.).

Taking breaks from covering traumatic news helped some journalists deal with traumatic stress. “I look for natural lulls in my reporting, where I can focus on other topics and stories that don’t necessarily deal with trauma victims,” said David, who has covered immigration issues for the past several years (David, personal communication, n.d.). Ashley, a Northwest journalist for 4 years, said she tried to focus on “lighter” story topics at least 1 day a week: “My boss tries to have me do happy stories on Saturdays. And on some days, I am glad I can do that” (Ashley, personal communication, n.d.).

Veteran reporter Ethan said it was “absolutely key” to take a break from trauma coverage once in a while: “Write a food story, write a policy story, write any kind of story where nobody gets killed. I have no idea how reporters who only do the police beat keep their heads together” (Ethan, personal communication, n.d.).

Purging Emotions

Engaging in cathartic behaviors such as crying, journaling, and writing was cited several times as ways journalists purged negative emotions. Some acknowledged crying on the job or after covering a difficult assignment. New reporter Lisa, a Northwest journalist for 2 years, recalled 1 day at the office when she was interviewing a trauma victim on the phone and typing a story at her desk:

I finished the interview, got up, and took a step away from my computer. My editor approached me and asked if I was okay, and I started crying in the middle of the newsroom. I was trying to contain it, at least in the newsroom, because the last thing anyone wants is to be that person crying in the middle of the newsroom.

A few journalists pointed to the news writing process as a cathartic activity, especially when the writing style is more narrative in style. Cory, a Northeast journalist for 30 years, said the process of writing a story can be “unburdening” and therapeutic,” describing the story as “a kind of confession.” He continued, “It’s something that we get to do that a lot of other folks who witness trauma don’t get to do. There is no real catharsis for them” (Cory, personal communication, n.d.).

Substance Use and Risky Behavior

Four reporters disclosed that they used to drink heavily when work assignments were emotionally taxing. Tammy (Southeast journalist for 15 years)—who has covered a lethal injection execution, a murder-suicide, multiple fatal wrecks, and a plane crash—said with a laugh, “There was a time when I drank a lot. But we’re reporters, we’re supposed to drink” (Tammy, personal communication, n.d.). Nancy, a Midwest journalist for 6 years, who wrote a series about a woman who was sexually assaulted, admitted that she felt intense rage at the perpetrators and formed a close relationship with the victim. She recalled her coping strategies at the time: “Now that I think about it, I drank a lot at that time; I drank a glass of whiskey after work a lot” (Nancy, personal communication, n.d.).

A handful of journalists admitted that when they first started out in the business, they did not have adaptive coping skills, and one journalist said she turned to self-medication. Risky behavior was not a common coping mechanism cited in interviews, but one reporter admitted to making bad decisions during a period of particularly tough story assignments. Tammy, who had worked as a journalist for 15 years, eventually joined a peer support group that helped her work through the emotional toll of her job: “I smoked. I drank. I was never good at getting enough sleep. I dated stupid people. I made some terrible decisions. I became a different person because of what I had seen” (Tammy, personal communication, n.d.).

Remembering Job Purpose

Remembering the importance of journalistic responsibility was a commonly cited coping strategy. For example, reminding oneself that the work of a journalist is important and makes a difference was a helpful coping strategy. Interviewees used phrases such as, “sticking to journalistic principles,” “doing my duty,” “doing this for the greater good” and “serving society.” New reporter Pam recalled “the most heart-wrenching” story she covered about twin baby girls who were severely abused by their parents: “It was one of the worst stories I’ve ever been involved in. But in the end, it was good that this was brought to the attention of law enforcement” (Pam, personal communication, n.d.).

Conclusion

Empirical evidence shows that journalists who cover trauma more frequently and intensely experience higher PTSD symptom severity. Of the four diagnostic criteria of PTSD, hyperarousal was the most commonly reported. Acknowledging these effects can help practitioners find a solution to the “mental health epidemic” in newsrooms (Huffington Post, May 26, 2015).

This study had limitations. The measures of PTSD symptom severity (PTSD Checklist) and the secondary traumatic stress subscale (Professional Quality of Life [ProQol]) may not have captured all indicators of mental health issues related to trauma coverage. For example, the PTSD checklist captured the criteria of PTSD specifically. More subtle symptoms—such as general anxiety or sadness—may have been overlooked because of the specificity of the DSM-5 measures and because individuals react to and experience trauma in diverse ways.

The survey response rate was low and is an estimate, as respondents may have shared the link with colleagues. Low response rates could be the result of hesitance to share experiences related to trauma and mental health due to social desirability bias (Krumpal, 2013). Low response rates are not uncommon, as they have continued to decline in the past two decades (Keeter et al., 2017). Pew Research Center (2017) found that telephone response rates have declined from 36% in 1997 to about 9% in 2017, and web survey response rates, which were low to begin with, also have seen a decline (Fan & Yan, 2009). Despite this, Pew asserts that the potential for bias due to low response rates is limited. Surveys targeting U.S. journalists have yielded a wide range of response rates, some as low as 8% (Newman et al., 2003), whereas others, such as the ongoing survey project on American journalists (Weaver, Willnat, & Wilhoit, 2019), yielded a response rate of 32.6%. This sample cannot be declared representative of all U.S. journalists, but the main focus of the statistical analysis was to test the relationship between two variables—trauma coverage and PTSD symptoms—and not necessarily to generalize frequencies and proportions of single data points in the general population of journalists.

This study’s results suggest the importance self-care, developing healthy coping strategies, and humanizing newsroom environments. This combination of personal and organization strategies can foster healthier and more adaptive journalists, but mental health must first be identified as an issue of concern in the field, and not just a “newsroom afterthought” (Jukes, 2015, p. 4).

A number of coping behaviors were reportedly used by interview participants to control, minimize, or prevent emotional distress and trauma-related symptoms. These included talking with loved ones, compartmentalizing, using drugs and alcohol, and remembering the higher purpose of their job. Individuals cope with trauma in different ways, but not all strategies are necessarily considered healthy or adaptive, and some may be more effective than others (Olff, Langeland, & Gersons, 2005; Pearlin & Schooler, 1978). For example, studies on coping effectiveness have shown that drinking alcohol, social isolation, and emotional dissociation—often described as “compartmentalization” by interview participants—can often be ineffective and possibly lead to exacerbation of PTSD symptoms (Coffey, Leitenberg, Henning, Turner, & Bennett, 1996; Norris et al., 2002) On the contrary, seeking social support has been shown to protect against and minimize symptoms of PTSD (Ozer, Best, Lipsey, & Weiss, 2003).

Social support systems can include friends and family, but for meaningful changes in newsroom culture to occur, support systems should also include editors, supervisors, colleagues, and journalism educators. Open conversations about mental health in newsrooms without the fear of stigmatization or perceptions of weakness can go a long way to foster a healthy workforce. Encouraging more training materials and professional development about crisis reporting, offering debriefings and group meetings during and after traumatic events, and encouraging reporters to take advantage of counseling sessions are a few ways editors and supervisors can foster a more supportive work environment. Newsroom managers and editors can also become more knowledgeable about the signs of PTSD, allowing for shift adjustments or assignment changes as needed. Private discussions between supervisors and new hires about mental health resources available can also set the tone for future conversations and foster a more open-door policy when it comes to discussing mental health.

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