Happiness in Journalism

This book examines how journalism can overcome harmful institutional issues such as work-related trauma and precarity, focusing specifically on questions of what happiness in journalism means, and how one can be successful and happy on the job.

Sample

Acknowledging profound variations across people, genres of journalism, countries, types of news organizations, and methodologies, this book brings together an array of international perspectives from academia and practice. It suggests that there is much that can be done to improve journalists’ subjective well-being, despite there being no one-size-fits-all solution. It advocates for a shift in mindset as much in theoretical as in methodological approaches, moving away from a focus on platforms and adaptation to pay real attention to the human beings at the center of the industry. That shift in mindset and approach involves exploring what happiness is, how happiness manifests in journalism and media industries, and what future we can imagine that would be better for the profession. Happiness is conceptualized from both psychological and philosophical perspectives. Issues such as trauma, harassment, inequality, digital security, and mental health are considered alongside those such as pr

Main Findings

PART 1: JOURNALISTS, JOY & THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS 2. Chapter 2: Journalists Considering an Exit by Jana Rick 3. Chapter 3: The Joy in Journalism by Richard Stupart 4. Chapter 4: Finding Joy as Journalists Motivations for Newswork by Gregory P. Perrault 5. Chapter 5: What Psychology Can Offer in Understanding Journalists’ Well-Being by Jennifer M. Ragsdale and Elana Newman 6. Chapter 6: Building Resilience Through Trauma Literacy in J-Schools by Lada Trifonova Price and Ola Ogunyemi PART 2: IN SUPPORT OF JOURNALISM WELL-BEING 7. Chapter 7: Recruitment and Retention Practices in a Changing African News Media Ecosystem by Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara and Trust Matsilele 8. Chapter 8: Developing Psychological Capital to Support Journalists’ Well-Being by Maja Šimunjak 9. Chapter 9: How Newsroom Social Media Policies can Improve Journalists’ Well-Being by Logan Molyneux and Jacob L. Nelson 10. Chapter 10: Supporting Digital Job Satisfaction in Online Media Unions’ Contracts by Errol Salamon 11. Chapter 11: Establishing Individual, Organizational and Collective Practices for Journalists’ Wellbeing through Disconnection by Diana Bossio 12. Chapter 12: Championing a Security-Sensitive Mindset by Jennifer R. Henrichsen 13. Chapter 13: Job Control and Subjective Well-Being in News Work by Víctor Hugo Reyna PART 3: STEPS & PRACTICES TOWARD HAPPINESS 14. Chapter 14: Cognitive Dissonance in Journalistic Trauma by Danielle Deavour 15. Chapter 15: Safer Vox Pops and Door Knocking by Kelsey Mesmer 16. Chapter 16: Teaching Student Journalists to Refill their Happiness Tanks by Alexandra Wake and Erin Smith 17. Chapter 17: Self-Employment in the News Industry by Sarah Van Leuven and Hanne Vandenberghe 18. Chapter 18: Workplace Happiness, Journalism and COVID-19 in South Asia by Achala Abeykoon et al. 19. Chapter 19: Engaged Journalism and Professional Happiness by Lambrini Papadopoulou and Eugenia Siapera