Developing resilience: coping with trauma in photojournalism

War correspondents experience similar rates of PTSD as combat veterans so in this timely episode, our host Ilvy Njiokiktjien is joined by professor of psychiatry Dr Anthony Feinstein and photojournalist and fellow Canon Ambassador Finbarr O’Reilly.

Finbarr's experience matched with Anthony's clinical expertise allow us to explore the experience of those tasked with the visual documentation of conflict zones and humanitarian crises. 

Anthony and Finbarr’s coping mechanisms to help navigate the emotional aftermath of  trauma associated with some parts of (photo)journalism are peppered throughout the episode, so you’ll need to listen all the way through to hear them.  

The organisations mentioned in this episode by Finbarr are:   

• ACOS Alliance 

The ACOS (or A Culture Of Safety) Alliance is a global coalition of 150+ news organizations, journalist associations and press freedom NGOs working together to champion safe and responsible journalism practices. 

• Rory Peck Trust 

Established in memory of freelance cameraman Rory Peck, who was killed on the job in Moscow in 1993, the trust provides practical and financial support to freelance journalists and their families worldwide, assisting in times of crisis and helping them to work more safely and professionally.  

Finbarr O’Reilly 

• An award-winning photographer with 20+ years experience working in conflict zones and complex humanitarian emergencies 
• Canon Ambassador 
• Regular contributor to The New York Times and winner of two World Press Photo Awards
• Author of the joint memoir Shooting Ghosts written with U.S. Marine Sgt. Thomas James Brennan (2017) about their experiences of the Afghanistan war 

Dr Anthony Feinstein   

• Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He has published a series of seminal studies exploring the psychological effects of conflict on journalists 
• His series Shooting War for the Globe and Mail Newspaper is a documentary featuring nine of the world’s top conflict photographers reflecting on careers spent on the front lines, and the physical and psychological scars they live with now 

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