Unprecedented Times in Journalism: Emotional Stress and Covering the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study explored emotional distress and organizational support in the context of covering the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of 222 local journalists in the US revealed covering the story was both stressful and emotionally difficult. Females and those who were younger and less experienced perceived higher levels of stress and felt the story was more emotionally difficult than their counterparts. Females also felt their supervisors were less emotionally supportive and less supportive of their attempts to balance home and work. Supervisor support of home/work balance was associated with less overall emotional stress from the story. The repetitive nature of the coverage, interacting with victims, and public backlash for their reporting were among the top stressors. Nearly 60% of participants indicated they received no stress management resources from their news organizations. Of those that did, most did not take advantage. Implications for organizational support and journalism and trauma research are discussed.