Journalists’ emotional reactions after working with the Jokela school shooting incident

Abstract

Journalists’ psychological distress after working with the Jokela school shooting incident was examined with a mixed methods research design using a sample of 196 journalists (27 on the scene, 169 working indirectly with the crisis). Quantitative results were compared to those of a control group of 297 journalists. Results from the quantitative data showed that in all journalists investigated, a minority indicated a level of PTSD, depression, secondary traumatic stress and burnout sufficient for being labeled as belonging to an ‘at risk’ subgroup. However, no significant group differences were found. In regard to journalists working with the shooting, previous personal traumatic exposure significantly predicted more distress due to the assignment, while work-related exposure did not. An analysis of qualitative data showed that the incident provoked work-related ethical difficulties, as well as a range of personal post-trauma reactions in journalists. The criticism of journalists after the incident provoked additional personal stress in a group of journalists.