TAKING CARE OF THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUR STAFF

EMERGING. Acrylic on canvas. By Andrew Chung, Reuters legal reporter, New York — **EMERGING**. Acrylic on canvas. By Andrew Chung, Reuters legal reporter

Research from the Global Center for Journalism & Trauma shows that newsroom managers play a crucial role in promoting a healthy, resilient workplace, and that effective newsroom leadership plays a protective role for journalists.

Here are some resources to start with:

Thomson Reuters Mindful Leadership eLearning course is a comprehensive program designed for people managers to lead mentally healthy workplaces.
Thomson Reuters Mindful Leadership Playbook gives guidance on how to spot signs that a team member is struggling, how to initiate a conversation, and how to provide support.
GCJT created this tip sheet for managers and editors of journalists, and another for managers of reporters exposed to traumatic events.
They also published this guide for editors and managers on working with freelancers exposed to trauma.

“When immersed in traumatic situations, especially those involving death or despair, reporters often have to kick their emotions down the road to get the work done. I have found there is exhaustion, sometimes spontaneous crying. And when I leave the scene, the searing images stay vivid for a while; the difficult moments recur, like surrounding waters.”
Andrew Chung, Reuters legal reporter