“There's no beat in journalism that you can undertake that's going to protect you entirely from trauma,” Shapiro told VOA. Many also feel guilt or shame over their stress because, unlike the subjects of their stories, they usually haven’t experienced the trauma first-hand, Storm said. Studies have shown that bearing witness to trauma can have the same impact as being directly affected, a phenomenon known as vicarious trauma. “Journalists often come in contact with tragic images over and over and over again,” Tompkins told VOA. “Emotional detachment is a huge problem among people who cover nonstop tragedies, because that's where you'll make the worst journalistic decisions,” Tompkins told VOA.

Source: Ethiopian News March 30, 2023 18:58 UTC