Staying Sane: Managing Threat and Trauma

As part of PEN America’s Covering Protests series, this webinar—co-hosted with the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma—will be led by mental health and trauma expert Elana Newman. Journalism is a trauma-facing profession, and journalists often find themselves on the front lines of disaster, pandemic, street protest, and social upheaval. This webinar will offer a briefing on trauma and journalism, introducing the concept of emotional injury, discussing warning signs, sharing scientific findings on how to build resilience, and best practices for self care and psychological safety. With time for Q&A.

Elana Newman, PhD is the Research Director for the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma and the McFarlin Professor of Psychology at the University of Tulsa. Newman studies the occupational health of journalists who cover traumatic events and helps journalists learn about trauma science, best psychological practices for interviewing survivors, self-care, trauma-informed newsroom practices, and other ways psychological knowledge may be relevant to journalistic practice.

*Additional speaker(s) TBA

Amid sustained protests against police brutality in the United States in recent weeks, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has recorded over 300 press freedom violations, including over 50 arrests and over 200 assaults against reporters. The majority of this intimidation and abuse has been perpetrated by the police. In response, PEN America has partnered with leading press freedom organizations to empower ​journalists to take care of their safety and well being as they ​cover the protests.