IJNotes Mental Health and Journalism Podcast Series

This six-part podcast series looks at the issue of mental health and journalism and includes interviews with journalists and mental health professionals who highlight some of the major issues facing journalists today and provide practical tips to journalists about mental health. The series was produced by the International Journalists' Network (IJNet), a project of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).

As stated in the introduction to the series, "From crime scenes and road accidents to natural disasters and wars, journalists often report on the frontlines of the world's most challenging events." In addition, journalists around the world have been working overtime to cover the COVID-19 pandemic, while others have been laid off or received few commissions. Covering these developments, whether major international stories or events much closer to home, can take a mental toll on those reporting. This can lead to issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in some cases but, more likely, to anxiety, stress, and burnout.

Through interviews with experts, each episode offers a different perspective on the issue of mental health in the media. Episode lengths range between 20 and 40 minutes.

Part 1: Mental Health and Journalism - A conversation with Anna Mortimer - For many journalists in the field, finding resources or someone to talk to can be difficult. To address this issue and to kickstart the conversation about journalists' mental health, the first episode of the podcast series features Anna Mortimer, journalist, therapist, and co-founder of The Mind Field, a platform that connects international development workers and journalists with therapists.

Part 2: Mental Health and Journalism - A conversation with Dean Yates - This discussion looks at a number of issues related to the mental health of journalists, including burnout, vicarious trauma, how to disclose a mental health condition at work, and the role of newsroom leadership. It features Dean Yates, a former journalist and bureau chief with Reuters. For more than 20 years, Yates covered war and tragedy in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, which led to his own battle with PTSD. His experience motivated him to become an advocate for journalists' mental health. He is working on a memoir about his journey and hosting a mental health podcast with Mindarma.

Part 3: Mental Health and Journalism - A conversation with Jesús Mesa - In this episode, IJNet interviews Jesús Mesa, a current ICFJ fellow and an international reporter with the Colombian newspaper El Espectador. In 2018, Jesús and his colleague Angelica Lagos received a fellowship from the Carter Center to report on mental health challenges facing Venezuelan migrants in Colombia today. More than 5 million Venezuelans have fled their country in recent years to escape violence, economic turmoil, political unrest, and more. Almost 2 million of them have crossed the border into neighbouring Colombia - more than any other country. In this podcast, Mesa talks candidly about his experience reporting on this less-visible side of the Venezuelan migration crisis.

Part 4: Mental Health and Journalism - A conversation with Dr. Allissa Richardson - In this episode, IJNet speaks with Dr. Allissa Richardson, an award-winning journalism instructor at the University of Southern California, about the mental health of Black journalists, and what newsrooms can do to better support their Black employees. Richardson is the author of Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones, and the New Protest #Journalism, which explores the lives of 15 mobile journalist-activists who documented the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement using only their smartphones.

More specifically, this podcast looks at how coverage of the anti-police brutality and BLM protests that erupted around the world following the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor has laid bare the unique challenges Black journalists across the United States (US) face in the newsroom. As they cover these deeply personal protests, they must also navigate potential repercussions like being arrested while reporting on them, as CNN reporter Oscar Jimenez was in Minneapolis. Or, they might be removed from their coverage of the protests as punishment over a controversial tweet, as was Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Alexis Johnson, while a white colleague avoided the same fate for similar questions about his social media activity. Johnson's tweet, and the subsequent action the Post-Gazette took, sparked debates about what objectivity in the newsroom really seeks to uphold.

Part 5: Mental Health and Journalism - A conversation with Hannah Storm - This podcast features an interview with journalist and media consultant Hannah Storm, who has published a personal story about her diagnosis with PTSD. She describes it as being a result of many traumas over the years: from experiences she had when reporting internationally on crises and disasters to sexual assaults she survived when she was a young reporter. All were in some way related to her job. Storm seeks to shine a light on the pervasiveness of violence against women journalists, and how this has an impact on their mental health. She offers expertise she gained while serving as the director of the International News Safety Institute and the director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ethical Journalism Network, a role she holds today. The conversation is candid and personal and offers advice for journalists, editors, and newsroom managers.

Part 6: A conversation with Mar Cabra - In the sixth and final episode of the podcast series, IJNet interviews former journalist Mar Cabra. She played a critical role during the Panama Papers investigation as the head of the data and research unit at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the organisation that spearheaded the award-winning global collaborative effort. The work, however, led Cabra to begin feeling the effects of burnout. A year after the Panama Papers investigation was published, she decided to leave her role at ICIJ to focus more on her own mental well-being. Today, she leads efforts to raise awareness of critical, under-recognised mental health issues with other journalists. One effort she was involved in was the launch of The Self-Investigation, a free online stress management programme for journalists. In this podcast, she shares her personal story, offers insights on what a healthy relationship with technology looks like, and explores how journalists can better manage issues like stress and burnout that threaten their well-being.