By Babatunde Tiamiyu
An international conference titled “On Sacred Ground: Journalism, Education, and Trauma Conference 2024” has assembled a crop of researchers from around the world to educate journalists on proper handling of traumatic experience while discharging their duties.
The event was put together by the Journalism Education and Trauma Research Group (JETREG) in Oklahoma, United States, with support from UNESCO and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.
The conference covered a wide range of topics, including the impact of journalists’ exposure to traumatic events, stress, burnout, PTSD in journalism, and educational methods for preparing future journalists to handle trauma. Participants also discussed barriers to trauma literacy, skills for coping with traumatic events, and best practices for building emotional resilience in journalism.
JETREG founder Ola Ogunyemi stated that JETREG was established in 2020 and quickly grew into an international multidisciplinary group.
“To make the group effective, we established Regional Research Hub in 7 locations, including North America; South America; Australia; Europe; MENA; South East Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa,” he added.
He said JETREG aims to embed trauma-informed literacy in journalism curricula because there is a gap between the trauma in doing journalism and journalism education.
“The seed for JETREG was sown in 2019 when I presented a paper at the World Journalism Education Congress (WJEC) in Paris. The study examined whether journalism students were exposed to trauma through teaching materials. This is because most journalism educators use teaching materials which contain scenes of accidents, fire, wars, suicide, rape, etc without a trigger warning to students,” he added.
“My study found evidence of exposure but minimal effects on students. However, the study showed 2 percent of students were severely affected but we couldn’t trace them because the survey was anonymous. We, however, announced to students to visit the University Wellbeing Centre for specialist advice,” he added.
The “On Sacred Ground” conference underscored the pressing need to integrate trauma awareness into journalism education. As the field of journalism continues to evolve, the mental health and well-being of journalists remain paramount. Through initiatives like JETREG, the global journalism community is taking vital steps towards fostering a safer and more supportive environment for those who bring us the news from the front lines.
Launched in 2020 by Prof Dr Ola Ogunyemi from the University of Lincoln and Lada Price from the University of Sheffield, JETREG has grown into a vibrant international research group with over 250 members. It boasts seven regional research hubs spanning Europe, the Americas, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South Asia.
