Are Journalists Getting Soft?


I had a conversation with a senior colleague bothering on journalism and trauma. 

He asked one striking question: "Are journalists getting soft?" In the course of our conversation, he talked about how this era or generation of journalists enjoy certain privileges that older journalists didn't enjoy and how things are more or less served on a platter of gold in terms of working conditions for younger ones. He also said journalism is a profession we signed up for and have to face the realities that come with the job. Just like the military and police personnel, there are hazards of the job journalists must face, he insinuated. Then I reminded him that these guys experience PTSD. Journalists consume a lot of traumatic content. 'Regular' citizens consume as well, and it's not good for anyone at all.  Journalists have to probe further and sometimes consume a particular traumatic content over and over again to find answers and clues. Now, the past week was particularly a traumatising one for me. I was wondering if I could stay off work at some point and not produce any content or listen to conversations around the stampede that happened two weekends ago at all. Attending service last Sunday brought great relief to me. At some point, I sighted another journalist and began to wonder (when references were made to the incident): "Is she working or worshiping?" Then, I return home and try to check what's going on online to see the news about the Owo killings in Ondo State and begin to wonder, what really is going on? What if I decide not to consume? Many of us (journalists) have GOTTEN USED TO these things, but how can one get used to seeing people in the pool of their own blood, lifeless, dead? All of this reminds me of the CAUSE for which some of us took on this job. A better society, it may not be perfect, but a society devoid of all these senseless killings. The news won't keep us down, the CAUSE must keep us going. But would we ever get to know the motive behind this attack on worshippers? Is it a reprisal attack, a terrorist attack? Will the government just condemn and promise to fish out the perpetrators? Would we get to the root of these unnecessary attacks? We must roll up our sleeves and get to work! This also means pushing for voters to make informed choices in the coming elections. That's a starting point. Get your PVC and get ready! The party structure, delegates and how candidates emerge must also be our concern. We can't leave these things in the hands of a few anymore. #work #job #people #experience #journalism #content #society #elections #trauma

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