Mental Health in the Newsroom
Also, a call to end opinion pages and discussing that story about a child's abortion
Photo by Feggy Art
The first dead person I saw was while I was a TV news intern.
I was a college freshman working for WTNH, a New Haven-based station. As a student at Trinity College, I worked at the station’s Hartford bureau. We went out on a pretty routine call. There was a fatal accident on 91 north, just south of the city. A carpool of four collided with a truck, killing a passenger in the right rear seat. We arrived on scene and began to set up. And that’s when I saw him. I remember thinking how still he was. The first responders had put a bag over his head, and blood had soaked through the bag. I probably knew he was dead before his family did.
I was 18.
Firefighters stood around eating their breakfast, joking around and working the scene with police officers. It was just another day on the job for everyone. It was not a normal day for me. I was sickened. How could they eat? There was a dead man 10 feet away, still bleeding! The memory of that day traumatized me. It would be the first of many accidents and murder scenes I would witness but, as they say, you never forget your first. By the end of my career, I was one of those guys eating and joking. But I never forgot the Man With His Head in a Sack.
I struggled with mental health throughout my career in news. It wasn’t all because of the news. I worked the overnight and early morning shifts, and those are just lousy for you. Eventually, I was fortunate enough to leave the day-to-day grind of the newsroom for consulting, but the traumas of covering so much death in my youth still left me messed up.
In Editor and Publisher, there is an article about mental health in the newsroom, and it’s an issue we badly need to address. We have a newsroom bravado, and a kind of unspoken rule not to talk about our feelings. We have a dark sense of humor so we can “laugh to keep from crying.”
We need more.
I know some newsrooms offer EAP hotlines and the like staffers can call, and that’s nice. I called one once when I was stressed from conflict I was having with a colleague. They listened and then asked if I had gone to my HR department. Not helpful. The whole point of this hotline was to take my problem outside the building.
In the E&P article, author Gretchen Peck notes that, in addition to the lack of job security :
Like with first responders and warriors, the job can place reporters and visual journalists in the path of danger, where they may be exposed to injustices and atrocities, heightening the risks of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
We need to do more to help journalists. Media companies need to negotiate better mental health benefits. They need seminars with mental health experts. They need to realize a “mental health day” is a real sick day. Mostly, they need to foster an environment where talking about these feelings is rewarded.
It will improve the quality of news and, perhaps, protect the next kid from being traumatized before class.
NEWS AND NOTES
WHAT A MESS THE 10 YEAR-OLD RAPE STORY IS: You’ve probably heard the story, but here’s a brief recap. There was a report in the July 1st Indianapolis Star of a 10 year-old Ohio girl who was raped, and who had to travel to Indiana to have an abortion. The report had one source, a doctor who said she treated the girl. Typically, reporters require at least two sources and, on a story like this, even more. The Star went with the story. Instead of showing sympathy (or shutting up), an awful lot of media outlets attacked the story that even President Biden discussed. And those outlets were, by and large, conservative. Even The Wall Street Journal ran an opinion that the story was “too good to be true.” Then the police arrested a suspect who confessed.
What happened? In short, politics. It was a consequence of the overturning of Roe v Wade, and there were elements of the media that didn’t want it to be so.
One can debate whether the Star should have reported a one-source story. But what is undeniable is that the machine that lined up to attack this girl was way, way out of line. Wishful thinking is not news.
MY OPINION? NO MORE OPINION PAGES: I’m in a discussion group led by an impressive, rotating group of hosts. Each week we try and answer The Big Questions around journalism. Since the group is anonymous, I won’t share too much except my answer. The question was: “In times of record-low trust in journalism, how does opinion journalism need to change.” My answer? Kill it. I wrote:
I want editorials to stop. Readers simply can't distinguish between the editorial position of the paper (or TV) and the hard work of reporting. It becomes too easy to dismiss the entire paper as “liberal” or “right-wing” because of its editorials. They have outlived their usefulness. Spend the money on local reporters.
If anything, the Ohio girl story reinforces my belief. This proved to be a less radical opinion than I thought. A number of people in the group agreed that opinion pages’ time was over. One interesting suggestion was to turn them over to under-represented voices in the community.
Photo Credit: Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free.org
GEN Z IS USING TIK TOK AND INSTAGRAM FOR … SEARCH?: You read that right. According to TechCrunch, about 40% of Generation Z (ages 18-24) use TikTok or Instagram when they’re seeking a place for lunch or something to do. The data, ironically, comes from Google. Younger users are used to immersive video experiences, and don’t want to use traditional search to come up with a plain old map and a text description. Google is fighting back by developing new 3D, augmented reality and immersive views.
LINKS AND LIKES
READING: “The Candidate’s Seven Deadly Sins” by Dr. Peter Wish. This is a guidebook, ostensibly for candidates seeking office, but really for anyone interested in the psychology of politics. Dr. Wish lays out how neuroscience and social psychology persuades voters. It’s very timely and you may, as I have, recognize yourself as one of the voters in the examples. Dr. Wish uses his wit and insight to show the science behind persuasion and voting. We hope to have a Q&A with him as soon as I finish this fascinating book.
PODCAST HELP: I’ll admit it. I don’t have a podcast to recommend this week. I was on vacation last week and didn’t pick up any new podcasts. So, I’m going to Tom Sawyer this and see if you all will whitewash the fence for me. Which podcasts do you think should get some love? I’m not talking about the ones everybody knows about already. What are some great finds? Diamonds in the rough? Maybe you have one you want to promote. Email me and I’ll give them a listen for next week. Remember: It’s not laziness - it’s crowdsourcing.
SUBSCRIBING TO: ThatPickleballGuy Newsletter. I'm officially the last person in America who hasn’t played pickleball. But it sure looks like fun. And Kyle Koszuta makes it look like a blast. ThatPickleballGuy documents Kyle’s 12-month quest to become a professional pickleball player which, apparently, is a real thing. It’s great fun and makes me want to hit the court.
JOB POSTING: I usually post work-from-home jobs, given that you’re all over the place. But friend of the newsletter Dan Kennedy posted an opening that’s perfect for the right person:
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Concord Bridge Newspaper: This is a non-profit startup that aims to serve its New Hampshire Massachusetts community of 18,500 with a free weekly newspaper and a digital platform. It sounds like a great opportunity for someone who is adventurous and innovative. Check out the details.
HOUSEKEEPING:
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