While the study of the effects of television news coverage on audiences is a well-researched topic, very little research addresses the effects of news coverage on those who create that coverage: the reporters, photographers, and live truck engineers. These news workers spend their days encountering, digesting, and disseminating the murders, fatal car accidents, and beatings that so often fill the nightly local newscasts. How can these professionals repeatedly encounter these types of events without any psychological or emotional consequences? This study was an attempt to answer that question.
Using online broadcast industry websites, 280 local television news professionals were surveyed for posttraumatic stress (PTSD), compassion fatigue, and burnout during the summer of 2007. Results showed that 7% of the sample met the criteria necessary to be diagnosed with PTSD and 3% said they felt symptoms of compassion fatigue that were severe enough to make them consider seeking employment outside the broadcast industry. These symptoms were all tied to their coverage of traumatic stories like those mentioned above. Additionally, those who felt more work pressure and felt they had little social support from their coworkers had higher burnout scores. Conversely, those who were more committed to their jobs were less burned out.
Results showed that television news workers can be emotionally and psychologically affected by the stories they cover. Implications of these findings are discussed in the form of possible training for student journalists and recommended changes to the work environment of broadcast news stations. Possible avenues into media effects research are also discussed including implications for the study of cultivation, media credibility, and third-person effects.