International conference explores integrating trauma awareness in journalism education
\n PESHAWAR
\nJournalists often face traumatic events in their line of work, but how prepared are they to cope with these challenges? An international conference titled \u201cOn Sacred Ground: Journalism, Education, and Trauma Conference 2024\u201d recently brought together researchers from around the globe to address this critical question.
\nThe event was organized 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.
\nLaunched 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.
\nThe conference covered a wide range of topics, including the impact of journalists\u2019 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.
\nJETREG founder Ola Ogunyemi told this correspondent that JETREG was established in 2020 and quickly grew into an international multidisciplinary group. He said it has over 240 members who are journalism educators and practising journalists around the world.
\n\u201cTo 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,\u201d he added.
\nHe 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.
\n\u201cThe 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,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cMy study found evidence of exposure but minimal effects on students. However, the study showed 2 percent of students were severely affected but we couldn\u2019t trace them because the survey was anonymous. We, however, announced to students to visit the University Wellbeing Centre for specialist advice,\u201d he added.
\nThe \u201cOn Sacred Ground\u201d 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International conference explores integrating trauma awareness in journalism education PESHAWAR Journalists often face traumatic events in their line of work, but how prepared are they to cope with these challenges? An international conference titled \u201cOn Sacred Ground: Journalism, Education, and Trauma Conference 2024\u201d recently brought together researchers from around the globe to address this critical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-413912","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-peshawar"},"yoast_head":"\n