Journalism as the Fourth Emergency Service

Front matter

j f i JOURNALISM AS THE FOURTH EMERGENCY SERVICE

Trauma and Resilience

Lisa Bradley and Emma Heywood

Section I First Hand Trauma

5. News Feature: Rory Carroll: “I wasn’t traumatised. It was the job and it was what [had signed vip fot” stas vedio’ ois we chee ds pete wires Moke rede Reeds bes 33 Lisa Bradley vi

Table of Contents

Writing as Balm: Humanitarian Journalism, “Body 422”, and the Infliction and Transformation of TEA a ls li athe 37 Tiania Stevens and Jamie Parr

Perceived Organisational Support After a Traumatic Event: A Case Study of How Slovak Newsrooms Coped with the Murder of Investigative Journalist Jan Kuciak 2.0.0.0... eee 49 Marina Urbániková and Lenka Haniková

Covering the Climate-Induced Flooding in Pakistan: Causes, Effects, and Outcomes of Journalistic Ord siii rs id iia 59 Firasat Jabeen, Saleem Abbas and Adeel Ahmad Aamir

Karen Fowler-Watt, Julian McDougall and Jaron Murphy

Local Journalists and Trauma in Burkina Faso... 6... cence cent n ene 79 Emma Heywood, Marie Fierens, Moumini Niaoné and Florence Le Cam

News Feature: Vivienne Aitken: “These things had not happened to us. Who were we to say we wanted. counselling? lic a A heise Viena Pisa eee dohaw hres eee 89 Lisa Bradley

Section II Vicarious Trauma

News Feature: Looking the Devil in the Eye: How Three Reporters Coped with Covering the “most harrowing trial in fifty years” of Child Serial Killer Lucy Letby 2.0.0... 0... eee eee eee ee 95 Lisa Bradley

“Putting up the bulletproof glass”: The Impact of Court Reporting on Working Journalists in the UK. . 99 Arlene Lawler

Teaching Reporting on Death: Thanatology and Death Education as Tools to Prepare Journalists for Vicarious: [rama A Ad eee eee ad ead 119 Allan Macedo de Novaes and Marcio Adriano Tonete Marcelino

Dont Be a Jerk: Guidelines for Ethical and Sustainable Collaboration among Reporters, Fixers, and

Local Producers: Covering Warzoness ovet ho teinii EEEE E S ro oon E en elves be 129 Johana Kotisová

SECTION III CYBER ENVIRONMENT AND ABUSE Jenny Kean and Abbey Maclure

Building Resilience against SLAPPs: Protecting Investigative Journalists and Students from

“Traumatic Legal Threats iris es dd Bae ond. dutch od Bia gah 161 Barbara Longo-Flint and John Price

Creating a Workplace Cultures: goo. fo aie id A fates ary eae aie 171 Rebecca Whittington

Table of Contents vii SECTION IV GENDER AND DIVERSITY 22. Rethinking “Hostile” Environments: Toward Trauma Literacy and Identity-Aware Safety Training for JOUPHALIStS 05.0650 A A A ria 187 Tara Pixley 23. Encouraging Reporting of Sexual Harassment by Journalists... 0.0... 0. eee o... 197 Elana Newman, Bradley Brummel and Autumn Slaughter SECTION V THE EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT 24. News Feature: Chris Elliott: “If you are triggered by trauma, then there is a need to consider if journalism is the tight job fot. you” iu sss paces ii ah eee Abe iaa ds be 209 Lisa Bradley 25. “They definitely throw you in the deep end”—a UK Graduate Perspective on Journalism Practice .... 211 Lada T. Price and Lisa Bradley Colm Murphy 27. “All Rise”: Immersive Dramatic Performance Techniques to Build Resilience in Trainee COMTE Reporters ios e A ie 231 Lisa Bradley, Polly Rippon, Lindsay Pantry and Michelle Rawlins Notes:on Contributoiss. + iaa a 245

Figure 5.1 Figure 6.1 Figure 6.2 Figure 6.3 Figure 6.4 Figure 11.1

List of Figures

A woman looks at missing persons leaflets as the Notting Hill community mourned the victims and came together to help those who lost everything after the Grent ellTower Mesina dada 30 KIP Processing Centre, Sanski Most, Bosnia, 7 July 2005 sisi cosacatevancnetasensncesnccansenians 41 Body 442, 7 July 2005, KIP Processing Centre, Sanski Most, Bosnia... 42 Lat Hamulić, De unknown dera d td 43 Zaim Hamulić. Date Wii wit prince 43

The Dunblane massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School near Stirling, Scotland, United Kingdom, on 13 March 1996, when Thomas Hamilton shot

sixteen pupils and one teacher dead, and injured fifteen others, before taking his

e112 Uae eer o REESE O O 90 These tragic events remain the deadliest mass shooting in British history. Public

debate about the killings centred on gun control laws, including public petitions

for a ban on private ownership of handguns and an official inquiry, which

produced the 1996 Cullen Report. In response to this debate, two new Firearms

Acts were passed which outlawed the private ownership of most handguns within o aNEKSi 90 Owen Jones, right, the brother of murdered schoolboy Rhys Jones, left, and

their father Stephen, left, both wearing Everton soccer shirts, carry his Everton coloured coffin into Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral before the funeral in

Liverpool, North West England, Thursday 6 September 2007 ...ococncnicicinononnnnnononncnos 140 Rhys Jones’ mother Melanie with the coffin of her son at Liverpool’s Anglican

Figure 18.1 Figure 21.1

Figure 21.2 Figure 23.1

List of Figures

Northern Ireland, 24th April 2019—The coffin of Lyra McKee is carried into St Anne’s Cathedral, Donegall Street, Belfast The Sate Workplace Culture mode narnia Why only 16 reported. Graphic depicting decisions a journalist may make when deciding if they should report sexual harassment, with data from the current

study included. Opportunities for organisational intervention are also noted. Numbers may not equal 150. Journalists could provide multiple reasons for not A i ecaeaecdit Headlines after 9/11

Table 23.1 Table 23.2

Table 23.3

List of Tables

Percentages and Ns of specific sexual harassment behaviours

(150 total journalists)

Perpetrators of journalists’ most distressing sexual harassment experience

(150 total journalists)

Reasons for not reporting sexual harassment (126 total journalists)

Foreword

Jo Healey

Do your job, do it well, do no harm...

cross thirty years as a journalist, I have interviewed hundreds of people whose lives and emotions

have been shattered, as have many journalists. However, we are rarely taught how to go about it. Our industry tradition is that we effectively, or not, practise on the grieving public. We barely give a thought to the effect this work may be having on us.

“We're not psychologists, we're not counsellors and we're not trained and we're asking them to relive horrific moments in their lives,” says TV reporter Simon Hare.

For several years, I have been training journalists globally in how best to work with victims and survivors and how to look after themselves as they go about these emotionally tough assignments.

Whether covering harrowing court cases, hearing horrific accounts, or witnessing tragedies first hand or via graphic imagery, journalists may be impacted. They cannot unsee or unhear this stuff.

Vicious online abuse, cuts in newsroom budgets, and intensifying pressure to deliver material to multiple platforms all add to the mix.

“No story is worth a person’s mental health or a person’s life, not yours and not theirs either,” says BBC Paris Correspondent Lucy Williamson.

That is why this much-needed book is so important. It offers clear insight into why and how journalists may be affected by the stories they may be covering daily, from war zones to court rooms and just about everything in between. However, it does not shy away from the journalist’s mission to report and deliver.

Edited by Lisa Bradley and Emma Heywood, Journalism as the Fourth Emergency Service: Trauma and Resilience deep dives into the key issues for journalists covering trauma and distress. It not only shares invaluable insight from a raft of experts but also provides a wealth of important advice in the form of tips, talking points, and tasks for students and teachers alike. The innovative form of the book, xiv Foreword as a “hybrid” academic-textbook, has something to offer everyone, from those researching trauma and journalism to those preparing to become journalists and those already in the field.

I have been lucky enough to work with some of Lisa and Emma’s journalism students at the University of Sheffield and to witness first-hand the progressive nature of their work in this growing field of trauma reporting.

In my training sessions, countless working journalists shared how much they wished they had been taught the basics of trauma reporting while at university, particularly how best to approach people at emotionally sensitive times and how to go about interviewing them.

As journalists, we are geared towards reflecting other people’s lives, and we forget that we too need some self-reflection and care. As the book points out, along with emergency responders, we can run towards the danger that others are fleeing, and this can take its toll on us.

BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen is a veteran of scores of international conflicts, wars, disasters and humanitarian crises. “The cost of spending years going to places where you see the best of humanity as well as the worst of humanity you do eventually pay some kind of price, and that’s why you need to be aware of your mental health, deal with things as they arise, talk always, share with your colleagues. Do not bottle it up,” he told me.

From attacks to abuse to lost homes, lost health, lost livelihoods and lost lives, we often tell our stories best through the people they affect. However, that can mean that so many journalists may be dealing regularly and closely with people who are suffering but who choose to share their painful experiences. It can be a relentless part of the job both in regular and conflict reporting.

Journalists need to know how to do this work well, know how it may affect them and their colleagues, and know what to do about it before, during and after the assignments. This book will enlighten and support them while hopefully making them better journalists.

Jo Healey, Author of Trauma Reporting, A Journalists Guide to Covering Sensitive Stories.

Acknowledgements e would firstly like to thank the wonderful authors who have contributed to this book and without whom it would not have been possible. They have been a joy to work with and their advice and expertise throughout the process has been invaluable.

We would also like to thank Lizzie Howard at Peter Lang, our editor, for guiding us through the publication process. It has been a pleasure and her efficient but lighthearted way of working with us has definitely made editing a volume on trauma less traumatic, also to Niall Kennedy, for commissioning us before he upped sticks and left for pastures new—but who had such fantastic vision for the book. We are very grateful.

Our thanks also go to the many unnamed friends and colleagues who have helped and supported us. Our particular thanks go to our families—Mark, Tommy and Oscar on Lisas side, and John, Mollie, Rory and Ted on Emma’. But mostly, our dogs.

List of Abbreviations/Glossary

Death knocks DSM-V

Emotional labour

HEFAT Information disorder

Information ecosystem

Information war

IWMF Moral compass

The practice of knocking on the door of a bereaved family to obtain an interview

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—a taxonomic and diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatric Association

The process of managing emotional responses to meet the requirements of a job (Hoschschild, 1979). Hopper and Huxford define it as “the suppression of personal, emotional identity for the sake of an ideologically driven, detached professional self” (2015, p. 38).

Hostile Environment and First Aid Training

First Draft defines information disorder as a collective noun for false information that is shared either with or without intent. Hence, disinformation, misinformation and mal-information can be termed collectively as “information disorder”. For more detail see: <https://firstdraftnews.org/ long-form-article/understanding-information-disorder/> (see chapter by Fowler-Watt et al.)

The information ecosystem is understood to be complex adaptive systems that include information infrastructure, tools, media, producers, consumers, curators, and sharers. They are complex organisations of dynamic social relationships through which information moves and transforms in flows. Information war can be defined as the use of information to achieve national objectives. According to NATO, information war can be waged to gain an information advantage over the opponent (see chapter by Fowler-Watt et al.) International Women’s Media Foundation

A personal set of beliefs and values regarding right and wrong xviii

Moral injury

MSM NCTJ NGO NUJ

Psychological resilience

PTSD SLAPPs SRA STS

Vicarious trauma

List of Abbreviations/Glossary

A moral injury may occur when a person witnesses or participates in an event, which strongly conflicts with that persons morals, i.e. one’s core beliefs and expectations about the nature of the world, particularly regarding how other persons and oneself ought to behave. Moral injury can arise where sustained moral distress leads to impaired function or longer-term psychological harm.

Mainstream media

National Council for the Training of Journalists (UK)

Non-governmental organisation

National Union of Journalists (UK)

The ability to cope mentally and emotionally with a crisis, or to return to pre-crisis status quickly

Post traumatic stress disorder

Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation

Solicitors Regulation Authority

Secondary traumatic stress, or STS, like PTSD produces flashbacks, desensitisation, numbness, a heightened responses to perceived dangers, but is experienced not by the person to whom the trauma has occurred, but by the person hearing about it

Vicarious trauma is the indirect exposure to a traumatic event through first-hand account or narrative of that event. It can trigger a change in how the affected person views the world and their core beliefs about themselves and other people

The material in this book contains images and descriptions of violence, death, trauma, and other triggering events. This content has been included in order to exemplify, support, and clarify the arguments in the chapters. Readers who might find this material upsetting or may be sensitive to these issues please take note.

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

Emma Heywood and Lisa Bradley

T rauma in journalism is not a new phenomenon. From the battlefields to the city streets, humanitarian crises to the courtrooms, trauma has plagued the profession whether directly or indirectly, vicariously or through lived experience, since the ink dried on the first newspaper sheets in 1566.

A systematic review of studies conducted between 2010 and 2022 revealed significant numbers of journalists who reported either PTSD, PTSD symptoms, depression, and/or substance use (Flannery, 2022). Whilst it could be expected that these journalists would include war reporters and foreign correspondents given the nature of their job, it also includes “lower level” reporters whose jobs are perhaps not perceived as being so glamorous, but who cover, day in day out, the epitome of human misery. The build-up of this work-related trauma has long been considered to be just part of the job, but the increasing numbers of those leaving the industry because of mental health disorders (MHD) or associated medical conditions, to say nothing of new starters resigning after being forced to watch graphic videos just days into the job, all point to a broken, or even non-existent, support system that we can no longer ignore. If journalism, an essential and key part of democracy, is to be preserved, this darker side of the industry must be addressed.

Journalism has been called the fourth emergency service, rushing towards the danger rather than away. Unlike the fire, police and ambulance services, however, the role of a journalist is not to provide immediate help but rather to observe and report. An inaction that some would say is traumatic in itself (Osofsky et al., 2005; Osmann et al., 2021). However, journalists suffer in similar ways to the emergency services, witnessing the same horrors and victims (Cote & Simpson, 2000), but are additionally affected by their inability to act and provide direct help immediately. Moreover, unlike the emergency services, counselling or mental health support is not routinely offered to journalists.

The demand for trauma training is now at the forefront of the industry debate. In the UK, the National Council of Training for Journalists (NCTJ) has included safety and resilience in its accreditation requirements for training centres for 2024. This means that all journalism training courses that intend to deliver the NCTJ diploma must demonstrate how they educate their students in trauma

4 Heywood and Bradley literacy, resilience and safety awareness, both physically and mentally. The aim is to equip the next y phy: y y: quip generation of journalists for the ever-growing harsh realities they face, as an increasing number of journalists work remotely, or hybrid, without the camaraderie or immediate support from senior and other journalists. Trauma is no longer seen as “just part of the job”; instead, there is an emerging recognition from newsrooms that reporters need to learn how to take care of themselves and their own mental P health to do the job to the best of their ability.

And this starts in the classroom.

What Is Trauma?

The debate about trauma and its impact on journalists has been gaining attention over recent decades, and a substantial body of literature already exists concerning the psychological and emotional effects that journalists are exposed to as a result of work-related stressors. The Dart Centre (2007) makes the distinction between stressful and traumatic incidents, defining trauma as follows:

Any event to which a person is connected, that is unexpected, outside that person’s usual range of human experience, and that involves some form of loss, injury or threat of injury, whether actual or perceived.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a narrower definition of trauma, is widely used as a trauma identifier and emerges frequently throughout this book’s chapters. It is defined by the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2023) as follows:

A psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, series of events or set of circumstances. An individual may experience this as emotionally or physically harmful or life-threatening and may affect mental, physical, social, and/or spiritual well-being.

The APA goes on to emphasise that whilst PTSD may have been initially linked to combat veterans, it can manifest in all peoples, ages, locations and jobs. However, the academic literature suggests that PTSD is more likely to arise as a result of severe stressors such as war or terrorist attacks (Backholm & Bjórkqvist, 2010; Brewin et al., 2000). The relevance to journalists and their daily work cannot go unnoticed.

Osmann et al. (2021), in their mapping review, which complements systematic reviews by Macdonald et al. (2017) and Aoki et al. (2103), identified seven themes according to which academic literature on trauma grouped potential triggers of trauma among journalists. These include war reporting, terror attacks, state-sponsored violence, natural disasters, local unrest, domestic stressors, and exposure to images of violence. The severity of a particular trigger compounds the trauma that is suffered. Added to this is the cumulative effect of repeated trauma. The cumulative effects of trauma can have different definitions, including discrete traumas experienced over long periods of time, repetitions of the same trauma, or the effect of all traumatic events of all types over a lifetime. Whatever the definition, repeated, cumulative or prolonged, exposure to traumatic events may generate more serious adverse outcomes than single events of trauma (Turner, Finkelhor, & Ormrod, 2010).

Journalists are at increased risk of exposure to potentially trauma-triggering events and therefore also to the aggregate effect of the multiple trauma types mentioned above. Their emotional, psychological and behavioural reactions can range widely from PTSD (Feinstein et al., 2002; Flores Morales et al., 2012; Lee et al., 2018; Newman et al. 2003) to depression (Feinstein, 2012; Feinstein et al., 2002) and maladaptive coping strategies such as alcohol or drug abuse (Buchanan & Keats, 2011; Feinstein et al., 2002, 2016). While informal coping strategies abound among journalists in their attempts to address the traumatic effects of their role, further research is needed not only to understand the multiple layers

Introduction 5 of trauma experienced by journalists but also to address them by incorporating training and awareness into teaching curricula.

The Structure of the Book

This book arose from many lengthy discussions we had, as the editors, about our working experiences. Lisa Bradley, a former journalist and now a journalism lecturer, was keenly aware of the significant gaps in the curriculum regarding trauma. Students increasingly required additional support as they faced practical assignments, and feedback from alumni included somewhat grim accounts of the trauma they were facing on the job, not helped by the lack of organisational support and resources. Emma Heywood, an academic with extensive experience of conducting in-the-field research into journalism in conflict-affected areas, was also increasingly aware of the trauma faced by conflict reporters, whether they were local or foreign to the event, as they witnessed the horrors of war. The more we discussed the topic, the more gaps and the more support for a hybrid academic-textbook emerged. We tested the idea with the Advisory Board of the University of Sheffield’s School of Journalism, Media and Communication —a team of the country’s leading editors and journalism experts—and with NCTJ members at large teaching events, and the response was unanimous; the inclusion of trauma-sensitive teaching into journalism curricula, both at the university level and within media organisations, was essential, and a hybrid academic textbook would be a very welcome tool. This book therefore has been structured to appeal to a range of audiences, including undergraduate and postgraduate students of journalism, those working in media organisations, those teaching the students, and academic researchers.

In structuring the book, we have endeavoured to provide a broad range of contexts and topics to avoid homogenising trauma or considering it as confined to single countries or environments. These contexts shape different ways of understanding, recognising, accepting, and handling trauma. We have also been attentive to the fact that the stages of development of research into, and understanding of, trauma differ according to context and country. The chapter authors have provided us with a vast array of topics, covering experiences and knowledge from many contexts and many countries, echoing the primary need behind the creation of this book. We have divided it into several parts comprising this introductory section, and then sections on first-hand trauma, second-hand or vicarious trauma, trauma triggered within a cyber environment, gender-related trauma, and a final section for those teaching trauma literacy. Whilst there may be some overlap between chapters, this merely serves to emphasise the importance of certain findings, gaps and recommendations. It should also be noted that not all topics can be covered in a single volume, and some areas, such as interviewing survivors to avoid retraumatising them, have not been specifically covered but would be worthy of separate discussion in future publications.

Each section is bookended by short journalistic accounts of the real-life experiences of reporters and correspondents who have undergone particularly traumatic events as part of their job. These are written as short news features. Our intention behind including these personal accounts is not only to provide examples of experienced journalists and the trauma they have suffered, with which both future and experienced journalists can identify, but also to provide a rich classroom resource for further discussions.

The introduction section of the book starts with this chapter by the editors, in which we provide the definition and scope of the book. Tyson, in Chapter 2, then provides an essential discussion of how viewing journalism as an emergency service—as a clear explanation of the very title of the book—can enable a better understanding of the psychological impact that reporting traumatic events has on an individual and how journalists can be supported psychologically in their role. This is bolstered by

6 Heywood and Bradley

Smith and Wake et al. in Chapter 3, who draw on research conducted in Australia and present a useful overview of trauma, its effects on journalists and the need to integrate trauma literacy into journalism curricula and embed trauma awareness and mental health literacy training for all staff into ongoing professional development.

Section I of the book focuses on first-hand trauma, providing definitions of the term and wide-ranging experiences encountered by journalists. Stevens and Parr, in Chapter 6, draw on the personal account of one of the authors (Stevens) to explore the complex negative experiences often encountered by humanitarian journalists and examine the concept of moral injury. This harrowing chapter recounts Stevens’ distressing quest to identify “body 422”, one of many human remains housed in a Bosnian warehouse-cum-makeshift mortuary. The chapter outlines how, whilst humanitarian journalists may be particularly vulnerable to trauma and moral injury, they can also use their journalistic craft to make narratives out of their pain and the pain they see in others.

Chapter 7 sees Urbániková and Haniková examine the field of investigative journalism in Slovakia following the murder of Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kušnírová near Bratislava. This chapter goes beyond the experiences of journalists themselves and discusses the challenges that their news organisations and leadership faced when tasked with supporting them and helping them cope with first-hand traumatic experiences.

Jabeen et al., in Chapter 8, underpin the global nature of trauma’s impact on journalists and complement the book’s international dimension by studying the first-hand trauma experienced by field journalists who covered Pakistan’s worst flooding caused and aggravated by ongoing climate change. They discuss the effectiveness of the existing journalistic structure in Pakistan for journalists’ readiness to deal with trauma-related coverage and ensuing ordeals, enabling comparisons to be made with different contexts in other chapters.

Fowler-Watt et al. continue the theme of first-hand trauma, in Chapter 9, experienced by journalists reporting in the age of “information disorder”. This chapter examines how the very fact of being a journalist within an environment of downwards spiralling levels of trust and accusations of elitism can act as stressors. The authors go on to suggest how trauma and resilience awareness can be built into journalism practice and how professional identities as journalists working in unhealthy information ecosystems can be strengthened.

Staying on an international theme, Heywood et al., in the final chapter (10) of this section, extend our awareness of others working in the field and discuss local journalists working in war-torn areas. Drawing on the example of conflict-ridden Burkina Faso in West Africa, the authors encourage (future) foreign conflict reporters to consider the trauma of local journalists reporting on massacres, murders, and destruction of their own communities to those communities. The chapter highlights the need to pay close attention to different contexts and their cultural nuances, perspectives and beliefs about mental health and trauma.

Section TI examines second-hand or vicarious trauma experienced by journalists in the course of their daily work. Lawler starts this section on vicarious trauma in Chapter 13, examining the vital role of the court reporter, a theme we return to later in the book, and emotional labour. She outlines the “emotionally laden” experience of court reporters who not only hear the details of deaths, suicides, violence and crimes in court but also interview victims and survivors before having to write up the details. The chapter provides four case studies of trauma experienced by court reporters and proposes various important coping strategies.

In Chapter 14, Watson then approaches the “death knock”, or interviews with bereaved family members, drawing on her study of Australian print and digital journalists who have gone through this “rite of passage”. The impact of moral injury on new and experienced journalists is discussed alongside the rights and wrongs of death knocks and corresponding coping strategies.

Introduction 7

Following discussions of death knocks, de Novaes and Marcelino discuss thanatology, or the study of death, in Chapter 15 to help journalists report on the death and trauma of others while dealing with their own fears and sense of finiteness. As covering death can bring its own anxieties, especially given the spectacularisation and commercialisation of death and its mediatised experience, the authors advocate death education and offer a guide named “It-I-Thou” as a responsible and empathetic approach to help journalists report on death issues and communicate with bereaved people.

Completing this section, Kotisová discusses ethical and sustainable collaboration in Chapter 16 among reporters, fixers, and local producers covering warzones and builds on that of Heywood et al. Drawing on research conducted in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Ukraine, Kotisová advocates that media organisations extend their duty of care obligations to all (news)workers involved in conflict reporting and offer all their collaborators, including freelancers and local collaborators, respect, peer support, counselling, and psychological assistance. She goes on to provide essential tips to aspiring foreign conflict reporters calling on the need for significant consideration not only for themselves but also for those working around and with them.

Section III focuses on trauma faced by journalists caused by intimidation and the cyber environment. Kean and Maclure start this section in Chapter 19, discussing the increasing volume of online abuse and violence against journalists, much of which is gender-based and racially motivated. They question what advice should be given to journalism students as they start working in this environment and approach a number of UK journalists and editors for suggestions for a definitive checklist that tutors and students alike could use. The next chapter (20) by Longo-Flint and Price broadens our understanding of journalism by entering the world of investigative journalism, clearly defining the in-depth, systematic approach needed to ensure social justice and accountability. They discuss attempts to prevent investigative journalists from doing their work via online and legal threats and provide a fascinating study on SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) which they describe as “costly legal battles filed by powerful individuals or corporations aimed at silencing investigative media organisations and journalists” and “a form of intimidation against media freedom and freedom of expression, with battles that can last for years, causing psychological and physical distress to the victims.”

In Chapter 21, keeping within the theme of online abuse, Whittington discusses the significant change in journalistic environments triggered by the exponential increase in online violence, abuse and harassment targeting journalists. This abuse, legitimised during and following Trump’s presidency and his attacks against the media, is explored alongside other factors to blame for the rise in mistrust of mainstream media. Whittington then presents her Safe Workplace Culture Model, which prioritises physical, online and psychological safety and will help managers and media organisations take back some control.

Whilst gender plays a part in many chapters, Section IV specifically approaches trauma from a gender, diversity and inclusion perspective. Pixley’s chapter (22) addresses an important failure of traditional journalism safety training (HEFATs) that consistently lacks the inclusion of diverse journalist backgrounds and experiences. HEFATs emerge as being out of date, exclusive, with complex layers of inaccessibility and cultural insensibility. With a tendency to prioritise physical over psychological risks, safety training can exclude the different embodiments and lived experiences of journalists who are not white male war correspondents such as Black, Indigenous, nonbinary, queer, disabled and neurodivergent journalists. Pixley emphasises the need for identity-aware risk management to become the norm in journalism safety training. Newman et al., in Chapter 23, then cover the complex phenomenon of sexual harassment and the many reasons behind journalists’ unwillingness to come forward to report it. The authors’ aim is to provide clear strategies to help journalists and organisations not only design and implement policies and procedures to ensure workplace safety but also encourage reports of sexual harassment so that they can respond accordingly.