It’s long been known that a journalist’s job can have a massive impact on his or her mental and emotional well-being. Acting as a conduit for stories of tragedy and trauma is no easy feat, and numerous studies have found that journalists – whether covering everyday events or massive tragedies – may experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
As we enter the second month of social distancing due to COVID-19, many people will be getting cabin fever (if you haven’t already), especially kids. We know it can be difficult with everyone under one roof 24/7, so we’ve rounded up some fun “news”-themed activities your kids — or you! — can do when things get dull.
As municipalities across the United States enter states of emergency and issue shelter-in-place orders, news publishers are working to ensure they are viewed as “essential” workers, allowing journalists and other news publishing employees the ability to continue reporting and delivering the news.
A 2018 study found that when communities lose their local newspapers, city finances are dealt a major blow. This is why the work done by the Jackson (Tenn.) Sun is especially important and impactful. A series of investigative news stories published in late 2019 follow reporter Adam Friedman as he explored the city’s revenue and expenses, as well as the loans it was taking out to maintain the city, revealing a situation he calls “absurd.”
Thousands of untested sexual assault kits that could have solved at least 500 sexual crimes in Portland over the last decade were left on storage shelves. Detectives vowed to fix the issue after the homicide and sexual assault of a 14-year old girl named Melissa Bittler in 2001. However, an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Maxine Bernstein showed that Portland police failed on the promise to send the untested kits to the state crime lab.
Some people may think of local news as foreign or irrelevant to them if they don’t live in the publication’s main coverage area. But local news can be global news, and The Oregonian’s “No Mercy” is the ultimate proof.
When we think of how news impacts our lives, we often think of information: We learn about road closures, legislation that will affect our community, or even residents of interest who we want to know more about. But sometimes, lightning strikes and the impact of a news story is immediate and concrete. That’s the case with one particular story from Charlotte, North Carolina’s WFAE, a local FM radio station.
News stories don’t have to be deep, investigative reports or articles that create legislative change to make an impact. It’s true that communities need watchdogs, but impact can be created by stories of all kinds, from notices of local road closures to human-interest stories about unknown neighbors and vibrant local residents.For Evergreen, Colorado’s Canyon Courier, its stories of local kids and teens felt the most impactful.
In Newton, Kansas, less than 3 percent of teachers are non-white, while the student body is 38 percent non-white. For reporters at The Newton Kansan, this discrepancy is an essential story for their community – and one they believe every community newspaper should be tracking.
On April 20, 1999, Columbine High School suffered a tragedy unlike anything most people had experienced at that time. What happened in that small Colorado town reverberated across the country and around the globe, making people everywhere stop and pay attention. Twenty years later, Columbine feels like the start of an epidemic to many people – but to those still living there, the only option is to continue moving forward every day. When the anniversary approached last year, the editors at the Canyon Courier knew they couldn’t let the 13 innocent people who lost their lives that day be forgotten by their neighbors.
