For journalists reporting on the crisis, or producing editorial products from their sofas, kitchens, and bedrooms, the last nine months have been an unrelenting slog. But the toll taken on the mental health of editorial staff isn’t front and center enough, according to media experts and seasoned journalists spoken to for this article.

For many, that’s resulted in varying levels of burnout, overwhelming anxiety, depression, insomnia and loneliness. “Journalists felt they were trapped in a pandemic bubble, covering this unremittingly depressing story 12 hours a day,” said John Crowley, a freelance editor and media consultant with long experience of running newsrooms, and who himself has suffered burnout.

Along with the stress of juggling family and childcare commitments alongside remote-working challenges that have hit all industries as a result of the pandemic, editorial staff in the field have had the additional concern of contracting the virus and bringing it home to their families, according to Kristin Neubauer, TV producer for Reuters and global coordinator and peer supporter for the Reuters Peer Network — a program in which peers are trained by clinicians in active listening, empathy, self-care techniques and when to refer someone to a professional. “Reuters has been diligent about providing and updating safety equipment and protocols, but even with all that support, the worry causes much anxiety,” said Neubauer.

In April, Crowley surveyed 130 journalists from a range of media companies globally and published the results in a report in November. In the report, 64% of respondents said they hadn’t had any positive work experiences during lockdowns, and 77% said that they had experienced work-related stress. A total 59% said they had experienced moments of feeling depressed or anxious. When asked about their work-from-home conditions, 87% said they felt their employer should be responsible, or somewhat responsible, for their conditions of work.

Crowley spoke with journalists from a range of publications in the U.K., Australia, Nigeria, South Africa and Indonesia, in which they revealed that in the scramble to transition to running news outlets from individuals’ homes at the onset of the pandemic in March, their mental wellbeing became an after-thought. “People were being overwhelmed,” added Crowley. “It’s all set against the challenge of the search for a business model, people being asked to do more work, others being made redundant. When the first lockdown came, that was all accentuated with people falling ill. It’s raw, there’s a silent [burnout] epidemic going on and it can feel like newsroom leaders either don’t know — or don’t care. They are feeling it themselves too.” 

Enforced cost-cutting caused by the pandemic has meant publishing executives have …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron