Emporia State McNair Scholars Research Forum

In a time when information is being accumulated on the internet at unprecedented speeds, producing high-quality news is becoming increasingly strenuous on those who report it. Violence against journalists has contributed to the extreme work-related pressure that reporters are facing (Committee to Protect Journalists, 2024). Such pressure may lead to career burnout, high levels of stress, substance abuse, and much more (Flannery, 2022; Reinardy, 2009). This study seeks to discover if the implementation of daily self-care habits may prevent these psychological stress symptoms. In this study, about 150 reporters from different parts of the country will be surveyed on their current stress/burnout symptoms. Half will participate in self-care habits for one month and half will not. A small portion of the sample will be asked to journal their experiences during the experiment. The content of the journals will undergo thematic analysis to understand the deeper challenges faced with maintaining care for oneself in a high-stress field like news. A post-survey will then be used to find if there is a statistically significant difference in the use of self-care activities on the mental health of news personnel. If this is found to be the case, newsrooms could benefit greatly from this research by encouraging their employees to take part in these habits. Moreover, if better mental health creates better workplace efficacy, the world could benefit through the accuracy of the news content they receive.

Keywords: Journalists, news, reporters, self-care, burnout, stress, trauma, substance abuse, mental health