Covering Trauma and Disaster

Whether journalists cover large-scale events (terrorist attacks, wars, school shootings, natural disasters) or stories about individuals (car accidents, sexual abuse, homicide), they bear witness to death or injury. Researchers are only beginning to examine how covering disaster and human suffering affects journalists. Does this work pose an occupational risk? Does covering trauma affect journalists’ quality of life? This fact sheet reviews the extant research regarding what we know about the occupational stress of covering traumatic events.

What do we know about how journalists may be affected by their work?

• The majority of journalists witness traumatic events in their line of work.
  
  
• Among 131 journalists in the Washington and Michigan areas, 86% reported experiencing a work-related traumatic event. In addition, exposure to traumatic work related events was related to self-reported PTSD symptoms (Simpson & Boggs, 1999)
• Among 875 photojournalists, 98% were exposed to a traumatic event as part of their routine work (Newman, Simpson & Handschuh 2003). Automobile accidents, fire and murder were the most common
• Among 906 American print journalists, 96% reported exposure to a traumatic work related event. (Pyevich, Newman, & Daleiden, 2003).
• Among 61 journalists in the U.S. and Europe, all participants reported experiencing a traumatic work related event and 92% reported reactions including intense fear, horror, or helplessness in response to these events (Teegen & Grotwinkel, 2001).
• Events involving death, violence, and human suffering can be particularly disturbing (Newman et al., 2003; Pyevich et al., 2003).
  

• Most journalists exhibit resilience despite repeated exposure to catastrophic events. This is evidenced by low rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety disorders. A minority are at risk for long-term psychological problems.

• Out of 875 photojournalists, only 5.9% met criteria for probable PTSD despite high exposure rates (Newman et al., 2003).
• Similarly, 4.3% of print journalists in their sample of 906 met criteria for probable PTSD (Pyevich, et al., 2003).
• Among 18 journalists who served as eyewitnesses to an execution, the majority of this group did not experience any long-term psychological consequences; a significant minority did experience some dissociatve symptoms such as feeling detached from others (Freinkel, Koopman & Speigel, 1994).
  (Note: All three studies suffer from sampling errors and it is unknown whether the group of journalists who volunteered to participate is representative. The rates found in these studies are lower than those typically seen among other first responders.)

• A significant minority of journalists may develop mental health symptoms including symptoms of PTSD, depression, or anxiety. In particular, it has been documented that war correspondents may be at greater risk for developing PTSD, depression, and drug- or alcohol-related problems.

• Among career war correspondents, 28% met criteria for PTSD, 21% for depression, and 14% for substance abuse (Feinsten, Owen & Blair, 2003). This rate is higher than most estimates reported among first responders (i.e.; Regehr, Goldberg & Hughes, 2002).
• Similarly, Simpson & Boggs (1999) found that self reported PTSD symptoms were higher among war correspondents than journalists who did not cover war.
• However, Feinstein & Nicholson (2005) found that journalists embedded with the armed forces in the Iraqi war did not differ significantly on measures of PTSD compared to journalists who were not embedded.
• Among 61 journalists, 13% met probable criteria for PTSD based on a self-report form (Teegen & Grotwinkel, 2001)

Risk Factors for Difficulties

• Exposure to a greater number of traumatic assignments.
  
  • Journalists reporting high rates of exposure to traumatic assignments are likely to report more PTSD symptoms than those who report few incidents of exposure (Newman et al., 2003; Pyevich et al., 2003, McMahon, 2001)
    
    
• Time in field suggests that beginners and veteran journalists may be at risk.
  
  
  • Several studies have demonstrated that as years in the field increase, rates of self reported PTSD symptoms may increase as well (Simpson et al., 1999; McMahon, 2001; Newman et al., 2003). Future studies need to determine if this risk factor is independent of higher exposure to higher rates of traumatic assignments as one spends more time in the field.
  • Contrary to this finding, Teegen & Grotwinkel (2001) found younger, less experienced journalists to be most vulnerable. It will be important to replicate this study again.
    
    
• Personal Trauma
  
  
  • Individuals who have been exposed to trauma in their personal lives may be at increased risk for developing PTSD symptomology (Newman et al., 2003; Pyevich, et al., 2003, Teegen et al., 2001).
    
    
• Low Perceived Social Support
  
  
  • Social support is consistently found to be an important factor in coping with all stressors (e.g., Brewin, Andrews & Valentine, 2000). Low perceived social support may lead to an increase in distress after a stressful event. With respect to journalists, low perceived social support has been identified as a risk factor following work-related traumatic events (Newman et al., 2003). This has only been examined in one study and needs replication, but given its consistency with research across many professions and trauma survivors, it is likely to be accurate.
    
    
• Negative Cognitions
  
  
  • Negative events can change the non-conscious way individuals’ view others, the world and themselves. For example, after experiencing a traumatic event an individual may view the world as an entirely unsafe place, others as untrustworthy, or themselves as unable to deal with stressors. Particular negative cognitive filters were linked to the development of PTSD symptoms among journalists in one study of print journalists (Pyevich et al., 2003). Replication of this result is needed.
  • A low sense of ones’ ability to cope with trauma and find meaning from a traumatic event has been linked to the development of PTSD symptoms among journalists in several studies (Marais, et al., 2005; Teegen et al., 2001).
    
    
• Temperament/ Personality Traits
  
  
  • Among 50 South African journalists, those reporting more PTSD symptoms scored higher on a self-report form assessing readiness to experience negative emotions (neuroticism) and a tendency to react with verbal aggression to anxiety provoking information (aggression/hostility) than those reporting fewer symptoms (Marais & Stuart, 2005). However, it is unclear if those personality traits differed before or after exposure to traumatic events. Replication of this result is needed.
    

Conclusions

These studies suggest that increasing perceived social support for journalists who cover traumatic events may be a cost-effective way to address occupational risks. Lack of social support has been identified as a potential risk factor for trauma survivors (e.g., Brewin et al., 2000) and first responders (e.g., Halsam & Mallon, 2003). Educating journalists about risks and strategies for coping with these risks may be fruitful. For example, reduction of exposure to traumatic work-related events, education regarding maladaptive patterns of thinking, and coping skills for dealing with intense negative emotions may be beneficial for journalists. In addition, news managers may want to consider ways to structure the workplace to increase organizational support and decrease risks.