Mexican journalists and journalists covering war: a comparison of psychological wellbeing
| Date | 05 April 2013 |
| Published date | 05 April 2013 |
| Pages | 77-85 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17596591311313672 |
| Author | Anthony Feinstein |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Sociology |
Mexican journalists and journalists
covering war: a comparison of
psychological wellbeing
Anthony Feinstein
Abstract
Purpose – War journalists confront many dangers, leaving them at risk for mental health problems. They
are, however,able to take breaks from the hazards of frontline work by periodically leaving conflict zones
for the safety of home. This respite is not afforded local journalists who cover conflict situations. An
example of this may be found in Mexico where journalists reporting on the drug cartels may under threat.
This inability to seek temporary respite from grave danger may theoretically increase levels of
psychological distress. The purpose of this paper is to examine this possibility.
Design/methodology/approach – The study sample comprised 104 Mexican journalists and a control
group of 104 war journalists (non-Mexican, demographically matched). Outcome measures included
indices of posttraumatic stress disorder (Impact of Event Scale-Revised)(IES-R), depression (Beck
Depression Inventory-Revised (BDI-II) and psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire-28
(GHQ-28).
Findings – Mexican journalists had higher scores on the avoidance ( p¼0.01), arousal ( p¼0.0001),
but not intrusion ( p¼0.29) scales of the IES-R. They had higher scores on the BDI-II ( p¼0.0001) and
anxiety (p¼0.0001), somatic ( p¼0.0001) and social dysfunction (p¼0.01) subscales of the
GHQ-28.
Practical implications – Mexican journalists targeted by drug cartels have more psychopathology than
journalists who cover war. News organisations that employ journalists in this line of work thereforeneed
to be aware of this and have a mechanism in place to provide treatment, when needed.
Originality/value – This is the first study to directly explore the psychological effects of violence on local
journalists who do not cover war, but nevertheless live and work in areas of grave danger.
Keywords Violence, Occupational health and safety, Crime, Journalists, Stress, Mexico,
Drug-related violence, Posttraumatic stress disorder, Depression, War
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Mexico is in the throes of drug fuelled violence that has left over 40,000 people dead
(Stevenson, 2011). Journalists are frequently targeted by the cartels and the price paid by
the profession is high, not only in the numbers killed and reported missing, but also in terms
of their emotional health. Recently collected data from Mexico reveal that one in four of the
journalists studied had stopped covering a drug related story because of intimidation
directed against them or a family member (Feinstein, 2012). Symptoms of posttraumatic
stress disorder, depression and anxiety were particularly high in this group.
The Mexicanjournalist data are of addedinterest because they highlightthe plight of journalists
who bothwork and live in zones of conflict. Organisationssuch as the InternationalNews Safety
Institute (INSI, 2011), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ, 2011) and the International
Federationof Journalists (IFJ, 2011)have identified certain countriesin which this phenomenon
exists, Mexico and Pakistan being two prime examples. These nations are not at war, in the
formal sense,but such is their level of internal violence, they havethe unfortunate distinction of
being amongthe most world’s most dangerousplaces for members of the press. Journalistsin
DOI 10.1108/17 596591311313672 VOL. 5 NO. 2 2013, pp. 77-8 5, QEmeraldGroup PublishingLimited, ISSN 1759-6599
j
JOURNALOF AGGRESSION, CONFLICTAND PEACE RESEARCH
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PAGE 77
Anthony Feinstein is based
at the Department of
Psychiatry, University of
Toronto and Sunnybrook
and Women’s College
Health Science Centre,
Toronto, Canada.
The study was funded by
UNESCO. The author wishes to
thank Aura Campa, MA, for
assistance with the data
collection. Thanks also to
Rodney Pinder of the
International News Safety
Institute, Mogens Schmidt of
UNESCO, Dario Fritz of the
Rory Peck Trust, Ariel Crespo
and Tony Maddox of CNN and
Marcela Turati of Periodistas de
a Pie for their assistance. Apart
from providing the funding,
UNESCO had no role in the
design or interpretation of the
study.
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