#56: journalism and mental health
resources and updates, plus an excellent talk on the economic impact of roe v. wade
Good morning,
I started working on a letter last week but needed time to digest the questions (one being, how does time impact our ability to tell stories?) so in lieu of sending that today, here are some resources I’ve saved on a cluster about journalism + mental health.
On a personal note, things have been busy at work (we’re getting very close to our annual conference of the International Association for Feminist Economics at the end of the month) so I’m knee-deep in the world of conference planning.
We also just hosted an amazing discussion on the economic impact of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and hearing from activists and experts outside the U.S. who have been fighting this fight for a long time was really illuminating. The way policy can affect culture as a whole is really important to think about.
Finally, later this afternoon I’ll be moderating a panel for INN days; if you’re going, it’s on community-centric models for delivering the news with an incredible lineup of speakers from Documented, La Raza, Milwaukee Neighborhood News, and The Trace, whom I’m excited to learn from!
🥬 Cluster: Journalism & Mental Health
One thing I appreciate about my corner of the internet is that when news gets heavy, people often share mental health resources for journalists and/or talk about media + mental health more explicitly. Unfortunately, this type of content hardly ever makes it out of the journalism bubbles but I think a lot of it is helpful for news consumers, too. Also, when a tragedy like Uvalde happens, it’s often easiest to compartmentalize questions of care until we have our bearings, but when we do have our bearings, we rarely go back to consider how we are doing. So, media worker or not, here are some links.
Recommendations for reporting on mass shootings from SAVE and collaborators. This is mostly to avoid causing harm through reporting (though there are a lot of debates going on about harm vs. impact) but as I read through it, I found myself thinking that the average person could benefit from being aware of these practices even for dinner table or text conversations with friends and family. A lot of the stereotypes we perpetuate and fear we spread happens in our small, informal exchanges about news.
The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma compiled resources for editors and reporters covering the Uvalde shooting but the resources are incredible for journalists covering pretty much anything these days, including how to interview kids, how to cover pain, a self-care course and much more. For example, this piece on creating a frame and minimizing harm when working with a traumatized child is useful for all of us.
Taking Care: a report on mental health, well-being and trauma among Canadian media workers was just released and while one can expect what the results were, seeing the data laid out is really eye-opening.
Primer on whether or not media coverage inspires copy cat shootings from the National Center for Health Research. Again, lots of debate, but this is a helpful overview.
Freeze Frame issue addressing news headlines related to the Uvalde shooting by Resolve Philly. This is also just a good newsletter if you’re interested in questions about coverage. I’ve been meaning to do a whole post on it for a while and will soon!
NYT feature on the nuances of photojournalism ethics when it comes to releasing graphic photos of gun violence. Another big debate and good media literacy content.
Facebook group for journalists covering trauma started by Silvia Foster-Frau of the San Antonio Express-News and Naseem Miller of the Orlando Sentinel.
“What is the pain of being human? It is the condition of being suspended between two worlds and being unable to fully enter into either.”
— Steven Pressfield in Turning Pro
Time Spent is an entirely free resource on media/culture and a public part of my writing practice. Spreading the word is immensely helpful as I test out some of this thinking. If you enjoy it, please consider sending to a friend :)
Happy Monday!
Jihii