A new study claims that journalists who work in the newsroom amidst images of extreme violence face more risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
The study by researchers at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, showed that journalists working with repetitive viewing of such images could lead to adverse psychological consequences like anxiety, depression, PTSD and alcohol consumption.
The setting for the research was the newsrooms of three international news organisations and the participants were 116 English-speaking journalists working with User Generated Content (UGC) material.
The news organisations involved in the study do not attempt to funnel more experienced journalists in the direction of a news story where the chances of viewing extreme violence are high.
The research is published by JRSM Open.
