mediadev library

Mexican journalists and journalists covering war: A comparison of psychological wellbeing

Anthony Feinstein

Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, volume 5, issue 2 (2013), pp. 77-85

"Purpose: War journalists confront many dangers, leaving them at risk for mental health problems. They are, however, able to take breaks from the hazards of frontline work by periodically leaving conflict zones for the safety of home. This respite is not afforded local journalists who cover conflict ... more

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Covering Trauma in Canadian Journalism: Exploring the Challenges

Patrice Keats, Marla Buchanan

Traumatology, volume 19, issue 3 (2012), pp. 210-222

"This critical ethnographic study is an investigation of the effects of witnessing trauma for Canadian journalists and photojournalists working on national and international assignments. Our primary aim is to describe our participants’ understanding of the effects of covering trauma, disaster, or ... more

Journalists’ emotional reactions after working with the Jokela school shooting incident

Klas Backholm, Kaj Björkqvist

Media, War & Conflict, volume 5, issue 2 (2012), pp. 175–190

"Journalists’ psychological distress after working with the Jokela school shooting incident was examined with a mixed methods research design using a sample of 196 journalists (27 on the scene, 169 working indirectly with the crisis). Quantitative results were compared to those of a control group ... more

Mental illness among journalists: A systematic review

Yuta Aoki, Estelle Malcolm, Sosei Yamaguchi, Graham Thornicroft, Claire Henderson

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, volume 59, issue 4 (2012), pp. 377-390

"Aims: To investigate mental illness among journalists in five key areas: (1) journalists' mental health status; (2) journalists' personal attitudes towards mental illness; (3) attitudes and support journalists expect or have experienced from colleagues when they have a mental health problem; (4) ef ... more

The mediating effect of depression between exposure to potentially traumatic events and PTSD in news journalists

Klas Backholm, Kaj Björkqvist

European Journal of Psychotraumatology, volume 3, issue 18388 (2012), 8 pp.

"Background: News journalists are an occupational group with a unique task at the scene of an unfolding crisis-to collect information and inform the public about the event. By being on location, journalists put themselves at risk for being exposed to the potentially traumatic event. Objective: To co ... more

WorldCat (6)

U.S. and Finnish Journalists: A Comparative Study of Roles, Responsibilities, and Emotional Reactions to School Shootings

Klas Backholm, Marguerite Moritz, Kaj Björkqvist

In: School Shootings: Mediatized Violence in a Global Age

Glenn W. Muschert; Johanna Sumiala (eds.)

Leeds: Emerald Publishing (2012), pp. 141-160

"In the chapter, journalistic work ethics on the scene during school shootings and journalists’ psychological stress reactions after such work is studied. Approach: Findings are based on several qualitative studies carried out separately at different time periods, spanning over a decade. Included ... more

Press in Stress: Media Under Threat in Balochistan

Aurangzaib Khan

Islamabad: Intermedia (2011), 20 pp.

"All journalists in Balochistan should undergo conflict sensitive journalism (CSJ) trainings. All journalists should undergo media law clinics to be educated on rights and responsibilities. A Safety Fund for Balochistan should be set up to provide resources on safety and security and address their l ... more

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Coping with traumatic stress in journalism: A critical ethnographic study

Marla Buchanan, Patrice Keats

International Journal of Psychology, volume 46, issue 2 (2011), pp. 127-135

"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 t ... more

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WorldCat (9)

Journalists as Witnesses to Violence and Suffering

Amy Richards, Jolyon Mitchell

In: The Handbook of Global Communication and Media Ethics

Robert S. Fortner; Mark Fackler (eds.)

Chichester: Wiley Blackwell (2011), pp. 752-773

Representing Death in the News: Journalism, Media and Mortality

Folker Hanusch

Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan (2010), viii, 199 pp.

"This new study maps and synthesizes existing research on the ways in which journalism deals with death. Folker Hanusch provides a historical overview of death in the news, looks at the conditions of production, content and reception, and also analyzes emerging trends in the representation of death ... more

The effects of exposure to crisis on well-being of journalists: A study of crisis-related factors predicting psychological health in a sample of Finnish journalists

Klas Backholm, Kaj Björkqvist

Media, War & Conflict, volume 3, issue 2 (2010), pp. 138–151

"Effects of work-related and personal exposure to potentially traumatic events on PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder), depression, compassion fatigue and burnout were examined in 503 Finnish news journalists (238 men, 265 women) by using a web-based survey. Stepwise linear multiple regression analy ... more

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The Moment is Frozen in Time: Photojournalists’ Metaphors in Describing Trauma Photography

Patrice Keats

Journal of Constructivist Psychology, volume 23, issue 3 (2010), pp. 231-255

"In describing their understanding of trauma, disaster, and conflict photography, photojournalists in this qualitative study conceptualized abstract experiences using specific types of metaphors. Their metaphors focused on concepts such as violence, bewilderment, and health/affliction. The unique as ... more

Handbook for Journalists

Paris: Reporters Without Borders;UNESCO (2010), 108 pp.

"This handbook is to help journalists working in war zones. There is no magic way to avoid a rocket attack or an ambush, but the tips here are based on common sense (which is too often ignored) and should help many journalists solve a lot of problems. We present basic press freedom documents, declar ... more

Witnessing trauma in the newsroom: Posttraumatic symptoms in television journalists exposed to violent news clips

Anke Weidmann, Jenny Papsdorf

Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, volume 198, issue 4 (2010), pp. 264-271

"Employees working in television newsrooms are exposed to video footage of violent events on a daily basis. It is yet unknown whether they subsequently develop symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder as has been shown for other populations exposed to trauma through television. We conducted an inte ... more

Healing the Messenger: A Journalist’s Trauma Booklet. Special Edition Kenya

Nairobi; Copenhagen: Kenya Association of Photographers, Illustrators and Designers;Kenya Correspondents Association;Kenya Union of Journalists;International Media Support (IMS) (2009), 38 pp.

"Providing counseling for reporters who have witnessed some of the worst things that can happen to humanity – with no tools to handle the emotional shock – was identified as one of the most imminent and crucial needs for support to Kenyan media practitioners in the aftermath of the disputed Dece ... more

The psychological health of contractors working in war zones

Anthony Feinstein, Maggie Botes

Journal of Traumatic Stress, volume 22, issue 2 (2009), pp. 102-105

"This study examines the psychological health of contractors working in war zones. Seventy-nine contractors completed an Internet-based psychiatric assessment. The sample was exclusively male with a mean age of 43 (SD = 7) years. The number of contractors whose scores exceeded the cutoff points for ... more

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Addressing the Effects of Assignment Stress Injury

Marla Buchanan, Patrice Keats

Journalism Practice, volume 3, issue 2 (2009), pp. 162-177

"The purpose of this article is to present the results of a qualitative study on assignment stress injury within journalism. Thirty-one Canadian journalists and photojournalists participated in the research study. The focus of this article is on recommendations offered by our participants to address ... more

From Danger to Trauma Affective Labor and the Journalistic Discourse of Witnessing

Carrie Rentschler

In: Media Witnessing: Testimony in the Age of Mass Communication

Paul Frosh; Amit Pinchevski (eds.)

Palgrave (2009), pp. 158-181

"According to recent reports on violence committed against journalists, journalism is a dangerous, fear-inspiring job. In the wake of Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and murder in January 2002 and the less-publicized but equally brutal killings of journalists in Bangladesh, the Philippines, the wars in ... more

International News Reporting: Frontlines and Deadlines

John Owen, Heather Purdey (eds.)

Chichester: Wiley Blackwell (2009), xvi, 280 pp.

"A collection of essays by top international correspondants in print, broadcasting, and photojournalism, International News Reporting offers an introduction to journalism written by the people who have made the profession what it is today. Contributors identify the major areas of professional practi ... more