Events

Trauma, Burnout, and Safety: A Survival Toolkit for Journalists

Join us on Monday, May 11, at Point Park University’s Center for Media Innovation for this can’t-miss session, which includes editors on the front lines of America’s current civil unrest. As part of a new series of training led by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Foundation’s Center for Journalism Excellence, there will be two sessions offering valuable tools to help newsrooms navigate safely during real-time violent conflicts and also manage the excessive stress, trauma and burnout often caused by these news situations.

PART I:

11-12:30 a.m. Mental Health and Wellness: The Emotional Weight of Reporting on Trauma & Preventing Burnout

In the wake of recent national events, journalists are carrying a unique emotional load: they’re expected to witness, absorb, and translate some of the hardest moments in people’s lives, often with very little time or space to process their own reactions.

This session will help journalists recognize early signs of emotional overload, how to avoid re-traumatizing interviewees, and understanding ethical considerations when balancing public interest with human dignity.  We’ll discuss understanding the difference between stress, burnout and secondary traumatic stress and learn techniques for grounding and emotional decompression after difficult reporting days.

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Networking Lunch (lunch provided)

PART II:

1:30 – 3 p.m. First-hand Accounts from Journalists in the Arena

Over the past half dozen years, journalists in all parts of the country have found themselves on the front lines of an unprecedented level of civil discourse and unrest. From the social justice riots in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020 to the violent ICE protests in recent months, journalists have been forced to navigate under extreme circumstances on America’s streets.

Two editors with experience on the front lines of some of the most traumatic events in recent years here in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis will share their insights into how best to equip yourself and your staffs with practical tools to stay safe by strengthening situational awareness and decision making, while also understanding risk assessment, emergency protocols and ethical considerations.

Check back soon for registration details. Please register by May 4.

Discounted corporate rate overnight rooms are available by visiting the Point Park University website. 

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Presenters:

Tammy Schuey, publisher, Butler Eagle. 

Halle Stockton, editor-in-chief and co-executive director, Public Source. Stockton leads Pittsburgh’s Public Source, guiding the newsroom’s strategy to bring trusted, independent journalism closer to the communities it serves. She began her career as a reporter at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune before joining Public Source in 2012, where she has helped shape its growth from a startup into a nationally recognized newsroom honored for overall excellence and investigative and enterprise reporting. Halle’s own reporting has earned national recognition, including a Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists and finalist honors for the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists. In 2017, the Institute for Nonprofit News named her one of 10 Emerging Leaders in nonprofit journalism. She is a graduate of the Leadership Development Initiative program in Pittsburgh and an alumna of the American Council on Germany’s Young Leaders program. An Erie, Pa., native, she is a Penn State graduate and proud alumna of The Daily Collegian.

Katie Rausch, the assistant managing editor for photography at the Minnesota Star-Tribune. Rausch has been at the nerve center of the Star-Tribune’s exceptional coverage of the recent ICE protests in Minneapolis, while Togneri has served as both a public information officer and now a public safety editor responsible for managing crises in both realms.

Chris Togneri, the assistant managing editor for business and public safety at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Togneri will lead this session that will take you inside their respective newsrooms’ strategies for managing dangerous news events. He is an editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette overseeing business and public safety coverage. He started his career in Slovakia at an English-language weekly newspaper, covered crime and public safety for the Modesto Bee in California’s central valley, then moved to Pittsburgh in 2007 to work for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He then spent three years as PIO for Pittsburgh Public Safety, and two years working in communications for Allegheny County before returning to journalism with the Post-Gazette in 2023. He is the proud father of a CAPA student, and husband to a Pittsburgh Public Safety social worker.