Hearing Filipino Journalists Side of the Story: A Mixed Method Approach

Abstract

Journalists have the power to relay important information to the public, sometimes endangering their own safety and health in order to cover stories. The researchers studied the experience of Filipino journalists covering wars, conflicts, natural disasters, police reports and accidents. The study used content analysis to analyze the semi-structured interviews and multiple regression to analyze the results of burnout, well-being and dispositional resilience scale. Hardiness was found to moderate the relationship of burnout and well-being (p <0.005), so despite high levels of burnout, a person with high hardiness has better well-being than a person with low hardiness. Majority of the journalists claimed that they became stronger after entering the profession. Some have trouble sleeping at night, and experience dreams about the things they have witnessed. Emotional effects include being immune and callous to events they cover and feeling an assortment of emotions – anxiety, sympathy and excitement. Journalists employ different ways to cope with the demands of their work such as talking about their experiences with friends, making jokes and laughing about it with their colleagues. Others would build a wall to separate their experiences on the job from their personal life while others would resort to traveling, drinking and smoking to help them de-stress. The researchers suggest that the study be extended to a larger sample size and other factors that affect a journalist’s well-being. Also, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and news networks should provide an avenue for counseling, briefing and debriefing of journalists.

Save as a Favourite

Author Information
Anna Gabrielle F. Cerezo, De La Salle University, Philippines
Alison D. Galian, De La Salle University, Philippines
Gianina Kyla Q. Mañalac, De La Salle University, Philippines
Ma. Patricia R. Ysmael, De La Salle University, Philippines
Maria Caridad H. Tarroja, De La Salle University, Philippines

• Category: Qualitative/Quantitative Research in any other area of Psychology

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

All Posts