Ensure workplace mental health, support systems for journalists

On Sunday September 1, NTV Kenya aired ‘Behind the Byline’, a news feature on the state of mental health in Kenyan media.

The feature by Brygette Ngana highlighted the lived experiences of some Kenyan journalists and their family members.

The journalists spoke of their mental health diagnosis, impact on their work and some of their coping mechanisms. A common theme in their narratives was lack of awareness, stigma and lack of workplace mental health support systems.

Narratives from family members echoed the first two themes, and the lack of caregiver and family support systems. Both groups agreed that stigma led to isolation which slowed down the recovery process.

Causes of mental health decline

These narratives are not unique to the journalists interviewed in the feature. In a 2021 report published by Media Council of Kenya (MCK), 226 journalists out of 332 interviewed (68 percent) reported to have faced a mental health issue or know a colleague who had faced or is struggling with their mental health.

A similar report by Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma on mental health, well-being and trauma among Canadian media workers showed that this is an international phenomenon. The Canadian report published in 2022 interviewed 1,200 Canadian journalists and media workers. 69 percent of those interviewed self reported to have anxiety while 46 percent self reported to have depression.

The journalists listed the content they had to cover, workload, burnout and fatigue as some of the causes of their mental health decline.

To cope with these factors, some journalists turned to negative coping mechanisms like alcohol, with 26 percent reporting to be heavy drinkers. Though the MCK report did not report on drug and alcohol use, previous news coverage on various media personalities in Kenya, and their lived experience narratives show the use of alcohol to deal with workplace pressure and societal expectations.

Covering traumatic events

Most of the recommendations given in the MCK report included provision of regular counseling services for journalists. With a scarce mental health workforce in the country, there is a need for a multi-sectoral collaboration between MCK, higher education and media houses.

Given that one of MCK’s mandates is to set the standards for professional education and training of journalists, it should ensure that each school offers mandatory courses on mental health first aid including self-care, psychological risks of the job including covering traumatic events, accelerated celebrity status and social expectations.

This will help to combat some of the causes mentioned by the journalists interviewed in the NTV Kenya feature and additional ones like minimisation of trauma, silent guilt and self doubt that Lydia Ouma mentions in her paper on the unspoken mental health crisis among East African journalists.

Additionally, MCK should ensure that media houses restrict the trauma that journalists face. This can be done by ensuring they don’t cover back-to-back stories that are triggers and they should have debriefing sessions with a clinical psychologist after assignments.

Sitawa Wafula is a Senior Fellow at Aspen Global Innovators and a Clinical Psychology Student. Email [email protected]