Managing Trauma for the Ones Who Inform America

On Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, SAG-AFTRA broadcaster members from around the country joined Broadcast Steering Committee Vice Chair Tracee Wilkins and Chief Broadcast Officer Mary Cavallaro for a webinar titled The Front Lines: A SAG-AFTRA Seminar on Managing and Alleviating Trauma for Journalists.

The seminar featured Al Tompkins, author and senior staff member at Poynter Institute, and his wife Sidney Tompkins, a licensed psychotherapist and retired clergywoman. They work with newsrooms across the country to help journalists manage traumatic stress and to learn to take better care of themselves. The news the last few years has included the coronavirus, election coverage, the insurrection at the Capitol, protests for racial justice, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, escalating crime and gun violence, and attacks directed at journalists covering the news. These stories have not only been difficult for the people who experienced them, but also traumatic for the journalists who report them. 

The Tomkinses led the conversation as a first step for helping journalists manage their trauma and begin the process of healing so they can continue to do the important work they do every day.

Photo: Clockwise from top left, Tracee Wilkins, Sidney Tompkins, Al Tompkins and Mary Cavallaro.