Scroll Top

Mental Health in Journalism Pledge

Journalism is a demanding profession that often involves high-stress environments, exposure to traumatic events, physical and online threats, and intense pressure to meet tight deadlines, all amid ongoing uncertainty for how journalism is funded and supported.

Despite this, many journalists fear stigma and rarely feel comfortable openly discussing their mental health struggles in the workplace. We believe journalism is an essential pillar of a just and participatory society and that mental health should be a priority in newsrooms and media organizations.

By signing this pledge:

  • We commit to fostering a culture that prioritizes mental health within the journalism community for our individual and collective care. We recognize the importance of mental well-being and will actively encourage our colleagues and organizations to invest in their mental health.
  • We pledge to support journalists in accessing mental health resources and recognize that the direct cost of mental health care is a necessary and legitimate expense. This includes advocating for training, training materials, therapy, coaching, peer support, risk and resilience plans, and other mental health services as standard practice and a business priority in our newsrooms.
  • We believe that prioritizing mental health is essential to journalistic excellence and integrity. A mentally healthy journalism community not only supports the well-being of individual journalists but also enhances the quality and impact of the stories we tell.

Para ver este compromiso en español, haz clic aquí.

Select your pledge type

Meet the Pledge Signatories

0
Institutions
0
Individuals

Institutions

TSI-brushstroke

Individuals

TSI-brushstroke

11 other individuals have signed the pledge but preferred not to be named publicly.

The Self-Investigation team has verified all the signatory profiles before publishing them. This list will be updated on an ongoing basis.

If you want to get in touch with us please email contact@theselfinvestigation.com 

About the Pledge

The Mental Health in Journalism Pledge has been developed by The Self-Investigation leading up to and during the inaugural Mental Health in Journalism Summit, hosted 8-10 October 2024 free and online with support from the Fred Foundation.

Over the course of a month, we conducted feedback calls and held open comment periods to ensure this pledge reflects the needs and realities of our community. We are immensely grateful to the many people and organizations around the world who generously offered their support, time, insights and copyedits during this time.

This pledge is part of a longer-term project at The Self-Investigation that aims to work with our community to establish a set of key principles that media organizations, independent journalists, and related entities can commit to, demonstrating their dedication to supporting mental health and well-being in journalism.

As of 10 October 2024, we have launched the pledge publicly on for public signature and sharing. We hope to collaborate with signatories to refine and expand the pledge into a detailed set of principles and guidelines in future iterations of this project.

ES