Mental Health of Journalists: Tired, Underpaid, Anxious, Cynical

Journalists in Serbia are twenty times more exposed to post-traumatic stress disorder, twice as many of them have mental health disorders compared to the general population, and more than two-thirds consider themselves to be cynical individuals. Welcome to the world of results from the "Analysis of Journalists' Mental Health" by the OSCE in Serbia, presented today in Belgrade.

Underpayment, Overwork, Uncertainty…

Two-thirds of colleagues work under high or very high levels of stress. Financial insecurity or underpayment affects as many as 55 percent of respondents.

In second place among the causes of stress are tight deadlines and a high number of working hours (49.5 percent), while the aforementioned job insecurity or survival is a source of stress for 42.7 percent.

External pressures and threats as a cause of stress have risen to 47.2 percent, up from 37.8 percent in the previous survey published in 2024.

The relationship with superiors (18.8 percent) and poor relationships within the team (16.1 percent) likely overlap significantly among the sources of stress, but are noted as double-digit figures.

None of this has a direct connection to the societal situation, the type of journalistic tasks, or external pressures and threats. Simply put, in Serbia, stress is embedded in the job without external factors.

Bullying, Cynicism, Burnout

Bullying is not far from Serbian newsrooms either. As many as 41.7 percent of respondents have experienced workplace harassment, with editors being the most common perpetrators (23.9 percent), followed by management (16.5 percent) and colleagues (9.2 percent). Owners are also present, with "only" 7.3 percent.

In short, this is too much bullying for something that is a criminal offense in Serbia. A slightly reassuring fact is that 56.4 percent of respondents who have experienced such harassment have initiated legal proceedings.

Burnout has been experienced multiple times by 67.4 percent, while 14.7 percent have experienced it once – a total of more than 81 percent of journalists have encountered burnout.

When responding to the burnout questionnaire (Maslach Burnout Inventory) – 81.2 percent consider themselves to be highly or moderately effective, which is important because satisfaction with professional success can compensate for other job stressors.

It is therefore not surprising that 68.3 percent see themselves as "highly cynical," and combined with those who consider themselves "moderately cynical," this group makes up nearly 90 percent of respondents, a value significantly higher than in the previous study.

For 42.7 percent of female and male journalists who completed the survey, the topics they cover are also a source of stress.

The topics that respondents identified as having a traumatic impact on their psyche are as follows: crime and corruption (65.6 percent), physical violence (58.7 percent), accidents and natural disasters (57.3 percent), serious and incurable diseases (45.4), and so on.

The percentage of those significantly affected by stress jumped between the two surveys from 6.7 percent to 11. When combined with the 66.1 percent experiencing mild effects, this leads us to 77.1 percent of journalists suffering the consequences of stress, which is certainly too much.

When we also consider the percentage of journalists who do not report on traumatic topics at all (13.3 percent), the percentage of those suffering stress due to reporting on difficult subjects is even higher.

Finally, it should be noted that journalists' assessments of temporary disturbances that do not have significant consequences are somewhat questionable, as the effects of stress accumulate and, if not addressed in a timely manner, can become a much larger problem over time, of which they may not be aware.

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ALL THE WORSE

In a survey conducted twice over the past three years for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) by Tamara Džamonja Ignjatović, Jovana Gligorijević, Veran Matić, Miroslav Janković, and Branko Čečen, it could be said that even such very poor results in the last turbulent year are quite logically exacerbated.

Here are some important findings from a sample of 218 colleagues, along with some comparisons to the previous survey on predominantly the same issues.

More than 70 percent of female and male journalists have worked in the media for 10 years or more, with over a third having more than 25 years of experience. This small number of young people in journalism indicates clear problems in renewal (and likely attractiveness) of the profession. At the same time, more than a third of the sample consists of individuals over 50 years old.

56.4 percent are permanently employed, which is similar to the EU average but dramatically lower than in all neighboring countries – in Hungary and Romania it is 95 percent, in Croatia 85.

In regular risk assessments concerning journalists' working conditions in Europe, Serbia ranks third worst for the rate of risk from undesirable events, behind Turkey and Greece.

When considering the results of this survey indicating that underpayment, or financial insecurity, plays the largest role in the causes of stress, and that job insecurity or survival ranks fourth, it is clear that the situation for journalists is extremely difficult in this regard and certainly does not contribute to their mental well-being. However, this survey also provides much more concrete and severe insights and trends.

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Threats, Insults, Physical Attacks

Between the two surveys, the position of female and male journalists has drastically worsened. It is enough to say that the number of physical attacks and threats has increased, while the number of convictions for these two forms of endangerment has fallen from 13 to just one final judgment.

Online insults have been experienced by 67.4 percent of respondents, online threats by 42.7 percent, insults by phone or in writing by 37.6 percent, and threats via the same channels by 27.1 percent.

Even more alarming is that more than one in ten individuals in the survey has experienced a physical attack, a similar percentage for property attacks, with nearly one-fifth experiencing stalking or harassment, and 7.3 percent facing sexual harassment.

In short, 15.6 percent of respondents did not experience any of these forms of endangerment, which is simply an unsustainable trend.

Nearly 40 percent of respondents have not sought psychiatric help, although they believe they should, which, along with those who have received professional help in the past or are currently receiving it, makes more than 60 percent, but only 10 percent are regularly receiving it, which is a failure of the healthcare system and health culture in Serbia and Serbian newsrooms.

Over 71 percent of respondents believe that their families suffer "somewhat" or "significantly" due to their work. Experiences show that this is an extremely sensitive area of life and work for journalists, which significantly affects them. From concerns about a family member working in the media to families of journalists relocating abroad due to threats and pressures, the ways in which journalists' families suffer and the prevalence of this phenomenon demonstrate the extensive parts of society affected by the ongoing and almost unpunished war against information.

Anxiety, Depression, Panic Attacks

More than a third of journalists who responded to this question (218) have a diagnosed mental disorder or believe they have one, even if they have not sought help, a percentage more than double that of the general population in Serbia.

Of the total 104 journalists who answered all these questions – 72.1 percent reported feeling anxiety, 40.4 percent depression, 31.7 percent panic attacks, and 19.2 percent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and so on.

Since this percentage of PTSD is nearly twenty times higher than in the general population, it is clear that it is related to journalism in a way that far exceeds anything that can be termed normal.

Of course, such psychological pressures, stress, and consequences do not remain solely in the realm of the psyche. A full 86.2 percent of those with chronic (physical) illnesses believe that stress has affected their conditions. According to the survey results, it seems that journalists need education on the physical consequences of stress and mental disorders, as well as research on this, the most serious aspect of the consequences of the journalistic profession on its workers.

In conclusion, it is astonishing that nearly 96 percent of female and male journalists believe they experience stress occasionally or daily.

The author is a journalist and one of the authors of the "Analysis of Journalists' Mental Health."

Source:Cenzolovka

The complete results of the research are available at this link.