Coping with traumatic stress in journalism: A critical ethnographic study

Abstract

Journalists who witness trauma and disaster events are at risk for physical, emotional, and psychological injury. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a critical ethnographic study among 31 Canadian journalists and photojournalists with regard to coping strategies used to buffer the effects of being exposed to trauma and disaster events and work-related stress. The findings are the result of in-depth individual interviews and six workplace observations with journalists across Canada. The most commonly reported coping strategies were: avoidance strategies at work, use of black humor, controlling one's emotions and memories, exercise and other physical activities, focusing on the technical aspects, and using substances. Recommendations for addressing the effects of work-related stress within this population are provided.

The role of personality and coping in adjustment disorder

“…These predict greater levels of anxiety and depression (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, ; Folkman, Lazarus, Gruen, & DeLongis, ; Shapiro et al, ). The type of coping used also predicts the development of other disorders related to traumatic or stressful events, such as post‐traumatic stress disorder (Buchanan & Keats, ). Nevertheless, it is generally assumed that what is most important is flexibility in coping, i.e., the subject's ability to use the most appropriate strategy depending on the contextual requirement, e.g., event controllability (Cheng, Hui, & Lam, ).…”

The elephant in the newsroom: Current research on journalism and emotion

“…Yet the coping strategies and mechanisms deployed by journalists in defence against mental ill‐health that previous research has identified are largely individual: avoidance of potentially distressing tasks, use of black humour, controlling one's emotions and memories (see below), focusing on the technical/practical/mechanical aspects of work, or “doing the job,” exercise, and substance (ab)use, often alcohol (Kotisova, ; Buchanan & Keats, ; Pedelty, ). As Hopper and Huxford (, p. 37) observed, “there was a lot of truth ‘in the old stereotype of the reporter who heads straight to the bar at the end of the day’”.…”

Quake Aftermath: Christchurch Journalists' Collective Trauma Experience and the Implications for Their Reporting

“…The amount of academic work, while growing, is still relatively small and much of it has focused on how journalists in life-threatening circumstances, bearing witness to death and destruction, are exposed to psychological pressures (Smith, 2008, Keats andBuchanan, 2011). experience of trauma to that of emergency service workers, finding reporters "are strikingly similar to public safety workers in both their experiences and their emotional responses'' (Simpson and Boggs, 1999:17).…”

“…In such circumstances, it is explained, the reporter can move on from one difficult story to another using the practice and routines of the profession to detail the news. Because the event is not part of their personal life there is an attitude that it can be put aside when the reporter is not at work or when the next new story requires their attention (Buchanan and Keats, 2011). Although simplistic, and not illustrating the cumulative effect over time, for some journalists, of covering traumatic criminal events, the example raises a key question: Are local journalists affected by a traumatic natural disaster in their town in a similar way to the public they are covering and, importantly, do they view themselves as victims and participants in the event?…”