The news agenda is overflowing with distressing stories – and the pressure to perform has never been greater. No wonder the emotional toll on people working in the media industry is so high. The sense of being overwhelmed, of trauma, or burnout, is very real.
The first course of action is often a referral to a doctor. But is medical intervention – potentially involving hospital, medication and psychiatry – really what we are looking for at a time of work crisis? This workshop will explore the mental health challenges facing the media – and how newsrooms can intervene meaningfully to help those who are struggling.
The International Peer Support model, developed for a wide range of stressful professions, can help build networks for journalists to help their fellow journalists. Peer support is accessible and practical: it’s about coming together to support one another navigate difficult experiences by drawing on collective wisdom. This approach reaches a deeper understanding – the men and women supporting you will have been through similarly hard times.
Unlike mental health professionals, other journalists very often just ‘get it’ without our needing to explain what’s going on. This shared, often unspoken, mutual understanding can lead to fresh, unexpected ways of working through difficulties. The networks that grow from this work are sustainable, offering an enduring supportive community, rather than a series of expensive, one-off encounters with people who have little grasp of the reality of modern journalism.