“Living to tell the tale – building community resilience in journalism”
CfP – Journalism Education Trauma Research Group (JETREG) 2023 event
University of Sheffield
15-16 June 2023
Free Registration
The Journalism Education Trauma Research Group (JETREG) is excited to announce its next international conference and knowledge exchange event on 15 and 16 June 2023 hosted by the Department of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK in partnership with the University of Lincoln, UK. Keynote speakers will be announced in the New Year.
We are inviting scholars to submit 250- word abstracts/proposals for individual papers or pre-formed panels by 31 January 2023. Registration is free but places will be limited. We will have a travel bursary for one PhD/ECR researcher to take part in the conference. Please state if you would like to apply for the bursary when submitting your abstract.
This conference responds to the persistent work-related problem of emotional and psychological stress in journalism practice. Journalists are one of the first responders to traumatic events and the last to leave, but they are the least likely to receive training in trauma informed literacy and resilience, unlike their counterparts in the police, nursing, ambulance services and fire brigade. Previous studies show that many journalists are reporting either post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), associated symptoms, depression, and/or substance use while many journalists feel ill-prepared for assignments, which involve reporting on critical incidents and events that carry a risk of being traumatised. Some scholars have blamed journalism’s deep-seated objectivity norm, which is central to journalism education and the ‘macho’ views to be found in some newsrooms, as one of the reasons why journalists are reluctant to talk about the emotional and psychological effects of exposure to traumatic events on their health and wellbeing. Studies show that journalism students are also ill-equipped to deal with their own emotional reactions and to assess what they experience from an ethical perspective.
The academic conference aims to highlight current multidisciplinary research into trauma, emotion and resilience in journalism and media work; psychological and emotional safety of journalists/media workers, pedagogical approaches and best practice to trauma literacy in journalism education/training and the various experiences of trauma, emotional labour or (un)happiness in journalism/media. We also seek the perspectives of scholars from different disciplines, practicing journalists/freelancers/editors on coping strategies and/or newsroom support that may have pedagogical relevance.
Launched in 2020 by Ola Ogunyemi at the University of Lincoln and Lada Price at the University of Sheffield, JETREG is a thriving international research group comprising over 230 members across the world with seven regional research hubs in Europe, North/South America, Africa, Australia/New Zealand, South Asia and MENA who will be represented at the event. The event will bring together media practitioners and researchers from JETREG and the Journalism Safety Research Network (JRSN) at the Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) at the University of Sheffield.
Topics of interest for this conference may include, but are not limited to:
- Trauma informed journalism practice and pedagogy and challenges to normative assumptions around objectivity and detachment
- ‘Moral injury’ in journalism
- Impact of journalists’ exposure to traumatic events
- Stress, burnout and PTSD in journalism practice
- Trauma and resilience during the pandemic
- Skills and capacity to cope with the effects of exposure to traumatic events
- Enhancing resilience in journalism
- Addressing barriers to trauma literacy in journalism practice and education
- Emotional literacy and psychological safety in journalism
- Institutional responses to trauma in newsrooms; support mechanisms
- Happiness and retaining staff in newsrooms
- Best practices and innovation in journalism pedagogy in building emotional resilience
- Mental health/wellbeing among journalists and journalism students/trainees
SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT by January 31, 2023 for consideration. Question may be directed to the organisers, Lada Price: l.t.price@sheffield.ac.uk and Ola Ogunyemi: Oogunyemi@lincoln.ac.uk Notification of acceptance will be sent out in February/early March 2023.
Proposals for individual papers must include an abstract (max 250 words) and a short speaker biography (max 100 words).
Panel proposals must include a 150-word rationale for the panel, a 250-word abstract for each of the papers, and a biography for each speaker of no more than 100 words.