Anniversary reactions among journalists covering terror: stress reactions and well-being 10 years after the terror in Norway.

Background: Covering terror and catastrophes can be traumatic for journalists, potentially resulting in long-term impairment. This study investigated 10-year anniversary reactions among Norwegian journalists who covered the Oslo/Utöya terror incident in Norway, 2011.Objective: The study aimed to investigate whether level of traumatic exposure and support actions in 2011 were related to anniversary reactions and current psychological well-being in 2021. It also explored if magnitude of anniversary reactions was related to level of current well-being.Method: A cross-sectional survey was sent to journalists who still work within journalism, eight weeks after the 10-year anniversary (N = 200). Participants reported retrospectively on trauma exposure, ethical dilemmas and social support in 2011, as predictors, and attitude to media anniversary coverage, anniversary-related stress, and well-being, as outcome variables.Results: More ethical dilemmas in 2011 (r = .295, p < .001) were related to a larger degree of anniversary-related stress in 2021. Having received less workplace social support in 2011 was related to more stress reactions (r = -.196, p < .05), while the magnitude of overall traumatic exposure in 2011 was not related to stress. Social support also predicted a higher level of current well-being in 2021 (r = .381, p < .001). More severe anniversary-related stress symptoms were significantly associated with decreased level of current well-being (r = -.259, p < .001).Conclusion: Journalists can experience lasting consequences from demanding experiences at work, including fluctuating stress symptoms during incident anniversaries. It is crucial for both journalists and newsrooms to recognize and be aware of the potential impact of anniversaries on the well-being of those involved in the initial coverage.

In a cross-sectional study carried out in 2021, journalists who had faced more ethical dilemmas while covering terror in 2011 had more anniversary-related stress symptoms in 2021. A larger magnitude of overall traumatic exposure in 2011 was not related to stress reactions ten years later.Journalists who had received more workplace social support in 2011 had lower stress levels in 2021.Journalists who had received more support in 2011 had higher levels of current well-being in 2021.Journalists with lower levels of anniversary-related stress symptoms had higher current well-being.

Trauma in the newsroom: social support, post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth among journalists working with terror.

Background: Journalists who cover traumatic events are at risk of developing long-term impairment, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The exposure may also result in perceived positive outcomes, conceptualised as post-traumatic growth (PTG). Social support (SS) at work is one factor that might affect the outcome. Objective: To investigate the relationship between three subtypes of workplace SS (perceived support, received support, received recognition), and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and between SS and PTG in journalists who have covered a large terror attack. Furthermore, to examine the relationship between ethical dilemmas (ED) experienced while covering the incident, PTSS and PTG. Method: The study was performed as a web-based survey sent out eight to nine months after the incident to Norwegian journalists (N = 375) who covered the terror attack in Norway in 2011. Results: Journalists who received more support also reported a higher level of PTSS (r = .168, p = .044). Recognition and perceived support showed no significant association with PTSS. Journalists who received more recognition also experienced more PTG (r = .542, p < .001). Neither perceived nor received support were significantly associated with PTG. More ED was positively associated with both PTSS (r = .469, p < .001) and PTG (r = .402, p < .001). Conclusions: Journalists with more PTSS may have participated more in organised support such as debriefing activities in the aftermath of the coverage. Some journalists may have experienced stress related to a fear of causing additional harm to first-hand victims (ED). Others may have experienced PTG related to reflections and discussions about their ED in the aftermath of a coverage. Media companies may promote PTG among their journalists by developing a culture for recognition of employees' contributions during demanding missions.

Antecedentes: los periodistas que cubren eventos traumáticos corren el riesgo de desarrollar una discapacidad a largo plazo, como el trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT). La exposición también puede dar lugar a resultados positivos percibidos, conceptualizados como crecimiento postraumático (CPT). El apoyo social (AS) en el trabajo es un factor que podría afectar el resultado. Objetivo: investigar la relación entre tres subtipos de AS en el lugar de trabajo (apoyo percibido, apoyo recibido, reconocimiento recibido) y síntomas de estrés postraumático (SEPT) y entre AS y CPT en periodistas que han cubierto un gran ataque terrorista. Adicionalmente, examinar la relación entre los dilemas éticos (DE) experimentados al cubrir el incidente, SEPT y CPT. Método: El estudio se realizó como una encuesta basada en la web, enviada ocho a nueve meses después del incidente a periodistas noruegos (n = 375) que cubrieron el ataque terrorista en Noruega en 2011. Resultados: los periodistas que recibieron más apoyo también informaron un nivel más alto de SEPT (r = .168, p = .044). El reconocimiento y apoyo percibido no mostraron asociación significativa con SEPT. Los periodistas que recibieron más reconocimiento también experimentaron más CPT (r = .542, p <.001). Ni el apoyo percibido ni recibido se asociaron significativamente con el CPT. Más DE se asoció positivamente con SEPT (r = .469, p <.001) y CPT (r = .402, p <.001). Conclusiones: Los periodistas con más SEPT pueden haber participado más en apoyo organizado, como actividades de reporte y discusión (debriefing) después de la cobertura. Algunos periodistas pueden haber experimentado estrés relacionado con el temor de causar daño adicional a las víctimas de primera mano (DE). Otros pueden haber experimentado CPT relacionado con reflexiones y discusiones sobre su DE en las repercusiones de una cobertura. Las compañías de medios podrían promover el CPT entre sus periodistas desarrollando una cultura de reconocimiento de las contribuciones de los empleados durante misiones exigentes.

Ethical dilemmas, work-related guilt, and posttraumatic stress reactions of news journalists covering the terror attack in Norway in 2011.

News journalists working on crisis-related assignments may experience dilemmas with regard to how to conduct their work without causing additional harm to first-hand victims. In this study, we investigated how exposure to journalistic ethical dilemmas during the Oslo/Utøya terror attack in 2011 and subsequent work-related guilt were related to the development of posttraumatic stress (PTS) reactions. Norwegian journalists (N = 371) covering the terror attack participated in a web-based survey 8-9 months after the incident. We found that females reported more ethical dilemmas during the assignment than males (n = 356, d = 0.51). We also found that being on the scene was not related to more exposure to dilemmas (n = 311, d = 0.01). Moreover, we discovered that work-related guilt had a significant indirect effect on the relationship between exposure to ethical dilemmas and severity of PTS reactions (n = 344, completely standardized indirect effect size = .11, 95% CI [.04, .19]. The results showed that exposure to ethical dilemmas may affect the development of long-term psychological impairment. We concluded that media organizations can prevent postcrisis impairment by preparing employees for possible exposure to dilemmas during crisis-related assignments.