J-Talks Live explores how covering COVID-19 impacts journalists' mental health

TORONTO, Oct. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - With journalists around the world forced to pivot quickly to cover COVID-19, The Canadian Journalism Foundation's (CJF) J-Talks Live will explore the psychological toll of reporting on this fast-moving, relentless and often unpredictable story. The free virtual event, Risk and Injury: Journalists, Mental Health and COVID-19, takes place on Thursday, November 19 at 1 p.m. EST.

According to the early results of a recent study, 70 per cent of journalists around the world said they suffered from some level of psychological distress due to the many challenges and high stakes they face covering the pandemic, sometimes in the absence of reliable information. In this ongoing reality, how can journalists take care of their mental and emotional well-being and how can newsrooms best support them?

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford conducted the survey in June.

Join the study's authors: Dr. Anthony Feinstein, professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a global authority on how journalists are impacted by the traumatic events they report on, and Meera Selva, director of the journalist fellowship program at the Reuters Institute.

"We know journalists must be protected from physical and mental harm as they work in conflict zones and places far from home," says J-Talks Live moderator Anna Maria Tremonti, host of the CBC podcast More. "This pandemic underlines the fact that grave dangers to our mental health exist with assignments even close to home. We can ask about anything when we're pursuing a story, but can we—and do we—ask enough about how the pursuit of the story affects our own mental health?"

This free virtual event is part of the CJF's J-Talks Live program, which explores pressing journalistic issues. 

The CJF thanks the generosity of exclusive J-Talks Live series sponsor TD Bank Group.

Cision is the exclusive distribution partner of the CJF.

DATE: Thursday, November 19, 2020, 1 p.m. EST. / 10 a.m. PST.
Register now

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About The Canadian Journalism Foundation
Founded in 1990, The Canadian Journalism Foundation promotes, celebrates and facilitates excellence in journalism. The foundation runs a prestigious awards and fellowships program featuring an industry gala where news leaders, journalists and corporate Canada gather to celebrate outstanding journalistic achievement and the value of professional journalism. Through monthly J-Talks, a public speakers' series, the CJF facilitates dialogue among journalists, business people, academics and students about the role of the media in Canadian society and the ongoing challenges for media in the digital era. The foundation also fosters opportunities for journalism education, training and research.

SOURCE Canadian Journalism Foundation

Related Links

http://www.cjf-fjc.ca