Journalism at Risk: Safeguarding Journalism Through Safety and Trauma Education

The role of journalists in sustainable development is crucial, but the profession exposes them to several safety risks, most of which they are not adequately trained to handle. We contend that journalism education/training institutions serve as the first line of training for professional journalists. As such, they should educate aspiring journalists about the dangers and ensuing trauma they might experience on the job, how to avoid them, and how to ensure that they do not add to the trauma experienced by their sources. Thus, the objective of this chapter is to discuss how to streamline journalism training courses to include modules that prepare entry-level journalists for safety risks and traumas that are usually associated with journalism practices in an emerging democracy such as Ghana. By focusing on journalism curricula in Ghanaian higher education institutions, this conceptual paper proposes relevant trauma-related modules, module contents, teaching–learning resources, and strategies journalism schools can employ to prepare students to handle traumatic news content and events that will likely be part of their daily professional lives. Some topics included in the modules are news reporting and trauma, dealing with safety violations, and practical exercises on interview techniques when interviewing trauma victims, among others. In conclusion, we discuss factors that can hinder the introduction of suggested modules and propose some mitigation strategies. We also recommend a hands-on approach to teaching. To ensure that the goals of the suggested modules are achieved and that the knowledge gained from the modules is maximised, we also recommend that journalism training institutions hire academics with relevant industry experience as well as practitioners with a passion for teaching and the willingness to impact journalists, in the case of programme accreditation restrictions, to co-teach the modules. While Ghana serves as the reference environment for the proposed modules, they are equally applicable in several African contexts.