The emotional toll on journalists covering the refugee crisis

How moral injury has emerged as the new terrain for media and mental health. INSI's ground-breaking research project published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism studied the coverage of the refugee crisis as it peaked on Europe's shores and found that 'moral injury' not PTSD was the biggest issue facing journalists. This is the first time this issue has been studied outside the military, where if not treated correctly can cause veterans issues with reintegrating after deployments. Those journalists who were local, parents, working alone and who felt their work loads had increased were more at risk of developing moral injury (an injury to an individual's moral conscience resulting from an act of perceived moral transgression which produces profound emotional shame).

Those who helped refugees were even more likely to experience the feelings of guilt and shame that go along with moral injury.  In this session, we will hear from journalists who covered the crisis about how they managed the difficulties of a story that often seemed to demand they got involved, how they were affected, and we will talk about industry-wide conversations we were able to lead that are now supporting individuals and institutions, and what news organisations can do to mitigate the risk of moral injury and prevent it from deteriorating into a mental health condition.

Organised in association with INSI.