The Relationship between the Media and School Shootings
of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder amongst Journalists,” which was published in the South African Journal of Psychology, that pre-existing factors such as impulsiveness, anxiety, hostility, and others related to how a journalist handles stress, indicate the likelihood that a journalist will develop PTSD.7 It is understandable that a journalist’s mental traits foster the chance of a psychological disorder.When those traits are combined with traumatic exposure, journalists are far more likely to suffer from PTSD. Furthermore, in 2003, Caroline Pyevich, Elana Newman, and Eric Daleiden performed a study on journalists who have worked in traumatic environments. In their article “The Relationship Among Cognitive Schemas, Job-Related Traumatic Exposure, And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Journalists,” published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, the psychologists support the claim that certain stressful and difficult circumstances promote symptoms of PTSD. Journalists who worked in more traumatic situations, like school shootings, were likely to develop a negative cognitive schema; journalists with negative cognitive schema were more likely to suffer PTSD.8 Therefore, the journalists, no matter if they were a senior reporter or a rookie, who reported on the tragedies at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Newtown, were likely to suffer at least some form of a negative psychological response. Likewise, the more criticism journalists receive may result in a worsened case of PTSD or depression. Every job has its stressful moments and can make people feel as if they are on the brink of falling apart. However, few jobs require that workers are to be put under so much scrutiny that when one senseless person goes on a rampage, it is suddenly that profession’s fault and responsibility to make sure such a tragedy never happens again. Journalists 7. Stuart, A.D, Marias, A. “The Role of Temperament in the Development of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder amongst Journalists.” South African Journal of Psychology. (2006). (accessed January 12, 2013). 8. Pyevich, Caroline M., Elana Newman, and Eric Daleiden. "The Relationship Among Cognitive Schemas, Job-Related Traumatic Exposure, And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Journalists." Journal Of Traumatic Stress 16.4 (2003): 325. SocINDEX with Full Text (accessed January 10, 2013).
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