Making secondary trauma a primary issue

Making secondary trauma a primary issue: understanding the impact of vicarious trauma in newsrooms.

A growing number of journalists who regularly handle images and videos sourced from the social web are displaying symptoms of trauma previously only associated with foreign correspondents, (those who had witnessed death and destruction firsthand). This panel will discuss new research that has examined journalists’ personal experiences of working with this type of content and offers a starting point for understanding the scale of the issue in the industry today. It will also highlight ways some newsrooms have raised awareness of vicarious trauma and created supportive cultures where journalists feel comfortable  seeking help when necessary. If you do work with this type of content, there will also be tips for how to minimize the potential impact.

Organised in association with the First Draft News Coalition.