No, our staff is not OK. Signs of burnout in the newsroom

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 25/04/2022

“No, our staff is not OK. Two years into a pandemic and with a global war looming, journalists are at the forefront of every bad news story that has come in.” This is the background to an urge at INMA’s website to pay attention to signs of burnout in newsrooms including some suggestions on what to do, by Vivian Warby, executive editor of IMS Wealth at IOL (Independent Online) in Cape Town, South Africa.

“There is a drive to get senior management to develop the antennae to pick up the signs of burnout and, at worst, suicide before it happens. The problem, however, is that those in management positions are also not coping”, she writes.

Her advises:

• “Buy batches of counselling sessions for staff to anonymously use. A UK company recently bought 20 sessions from a therapist, allowing two sessions for any staff member that needed them. They sent the counsellor’s details to their staff. The sessions were taken up quickly. The counsellor helped contain some staff, offered ongoing paid sessions for others, or referred them on for free counselling.
• Sign your e-mails with the phone numbers of helplines and suicide lines. You never know when this will be a lifesaver.
• Host group check-ins. Sit in circle together and talk not about bottom lines but about what is happening in each other’s lives. You can get an experienced facilitator to hold these groups once a month. Staff need spaces to breathe, find similar life experiences with others, and exhale.
• Be proactive with non-monetary rewards. Give people an afternoon off. Give them a day off on their birthday. Allow staff time out to attend to family issues. You will get better work from them in the long run. In other words: Provide individualised support to staff members.
• Recognise the reality of work. Did you know some staff have two or three side hustles to keep up with inflation? If you can’t offer a salary increase, consider a shorter work week.
• If it is evident a staff member is not coping, have a list of professional therapists on speed dial for the company.Ask them how you can make their work experience a better one for them, and create time off.
• Promote self-care. Journalists are awful with this. (Well, some of them are). Get your team moving in a healthy direction, and lead by example: Have a bottle of water with you at work meetings and try and finish it in the meeting. Find a colleague to “compete” with when it comes to how many steps you take in a day. Have your next face-to-face meeting it in a park, in nature, or on the ski slopes.
• Check in with individuals. One-on-one check-ins are important. And senior staff members need to check in with each other. Sometimes the boss is not OK.