The Burden of Bearing Witness
Laura Gómez Rodríguez worked as a reporter in Arizona. After experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), she decided to leave her career in journalism altogether. Photo by Carolina Navas for palabra
The job of covering traumatic subject matter often falls on journalists of color, many of whom ultimately leave the industry due to lack of support. The story of one such journalist, Laura Gómez Rodríguez, begs the question: What responsibility does a newsroom have to journalists of color whose mental health struggles are a direct result of their job?
Editor’s note: The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) has resources to support reporters’ mental health. Poynter Institute offered advice on managing the relentless news cycle. NAHJ also developed a Journalism Safety Guide. For mental health, Vita Activa is a free, anonymous and confidential helpline that offers emotional and psychological support in English and Spanish for journalists, activists, and human rights defenders facing stress, burnout, and/or digital violence.
A darkness enveloped journalist Laura Gómez Rodríguez in the spring of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was rapidly changing the world and the pressures of her journalism job went into overdrive.
She recalls her inability to make herself walk the few steps from her bed to her work-from-home desk. When she sat at her computer to write, she said her fingers froze on the keyboard. She missed deadlines and the pace of her work slowed to the point that she was reprimanded.
At the time, she was the only woman and person of color at the Arizona Mirror, a small nonprofit newsroom based in Phoenix. Gómez Rodríguez was haunted by the subjects in her stories: asylum seekers who feared deportation to the countries they had fled, immigrants afraid to die alone in detention centers, and minorities who feared being the targets of racial violence.
At first, Gómez Rodríguez didn’t know she was experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), something her newsroom didn’t act on until she figured out the problem herself and informed them. Four years later, Gómez Rodríguez is one of the many journalists who left a profession they once loved due to mental health struggles and what she felt was insufficient support. Her case is an example of how the emotional toll of reporting can be heaviest on women and journalists of color because they’re more likely to see themselves reflected in the struggles of their story subjects. Newsrooms that are lacking in diversity can also miss signs of distress and ultimately fail to provide journalists of color the support they need to survive and thrive in the industry.
The Unraveling
Gómez Rodríguez hit her stride as a journalist on the streets of Phoenix, where she focused on community-based immigration reporting. As an immigrant herself, she knew what it was like to start from scratch in a new country. Gómez Rodríguez was born in Bogotá, Colombia, immigrated to Puerto Rico at age 12, and went to Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, where she studied journalism. Her personal experience helped Gómez Rodríguez build trust with her sources and elevated the quality of her work. In 2021, she won a first place award from the Arizona Press Club for reporting that shed light on the cases of four immigrants who faced deportation after police wrongly arrested them.
“I felt at home doing immigration reporting, and I felt like I could do it differently because of my background, my language skills and my experience as an immigrant,” Gómez Rodríguez said.
Laura Gómez Rodríguez working at the office of Emerson College’s newspaper, The Berkeley Beacon, where she was editor of the news section during her senior year. Photo courtesy of Laura Gómez Rodríguez
Her reporting style got Gómez Rodríguez on the radar of editor Jim Small, who recruited her in 2018 to help launch the Arizona Mirror, a four-person newsroom based in Phoenix. The Mirror is one of 39 newsrooms in the States Newsroom network, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Small hired Gómez Rodríguez to report on the impact of federal and state laws on the lives of underrepresented and immigrant communities.
During the first Trump administration, Gómez Rodríguez wrote stories about women who feared they would die in federal immigration custody. She wrote about immigrant children who were sexually abused in federal custody after enduring perilous journeys in search of better lives. With the arrival of COVID-19, Gómez Rodríguez witnessed how the pandemic disproportionately harmed the communities she covered. She watched people of color become fearful of racist attacks. And when George Floyd was murdered by police in Minneapolis and protests erupted nationwide, including in Phoenix, she said it felt like all hell was breaking loose.
“The country felt like it was on fire and the mood had completely changed nationally,” Gómez Rodríguez said. “I felt totally isolated in my newsroom.”
Laura Gómez Rodríguez reporting on a march in downtown Phoenix organized by local immigrants’ rights groups in November 2015. Photo by Diego Lozano, courtesy of Laura Gómez Rodríguez
Her unraveling was slow at first. Gómez Rodríguez initially noticed something was wrong in early 2020, when the Arizona Mirror switched to remote work and her editor organized daily morning staff calls. The goal was to keep the newsroom connected during the early days of the pandemic.
“I would join the calls and listen to the small talk and just feel like I was living in a different world, observing a different reality,” Gómez Rodríguez said.
All three of Gómez Rodríguez’s colleagues during her time at the Mirror were American-born white men. She said coverage of the George Floyd protests didn't come up in the morning meetings until she broached the subject. It seemed to her that the newsroom didn’t grasp the significance of the demonstrations. According to Gómez Rodríguez, her colleagues rarely spent time talking to people directly impacted by the subject matter they covered. Even when reporting on sensitive subjects like the detention of migrant children, her colleagues were mostly in touch with politicos, advocates, lobbyists, and law enforcement. palabra reviewed dozens of news stories reported by the Arizona Mirror during the same time period and confirmed Gómez Rodríguez’s claim.
“The meetings started to feel difficult to process,” she said. “I started to question myself as a journalist, like, ‘Am I not paying attention to the right things? Have I lost my news judgment?’”
This was when Gómez Rodríguez’s work began to suffer. She struggled to write and turned in stories late. She skipped work meetings and sometimes ignored messages from her editor. Gómez Rodríguez said that the first time Small asked her what was going on, she could barely formulate words. She said she simply wept.
“I didn’t really know what was happening to me,” she said. “I didn’t recognize myself.”
Laura Gómez Rodríguez reporting on a family separation story in Nogales, Mexico, in June of 2018. In the background, migrant children, mothers and adults camp outside the pedestrian border crossing, waiting for a chance to speak to U.S. immigration officials and request asylum. Photo by Diego Lozano, courtesy of Laura Gómez Rodríguez
‘Daily witnesses to grief and human suffering’
Before the pandemic, mental health was not a subject commonly discussed in newsrooms, according to Elana Newman, research director and co-founder of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, a project of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
When the Dart Center launched 25 years ago, Newman said many thought it was a “weird idea” to link journalism and trauma. The mission of the organization is focused on creating resources for journalists who want to ethically and accurately report on violence, conflict and tragedy. Over time, the Dart Center also became a resource for journalists who were experiencing negative emotional and mental impacts due to their work.
‘Community reporters are professional, daily witnesses to grief and human suffering.’
According to Newman, all journalists cover traumatic events, no matter their beat. Research shows that 80 to 100% of journalists have been exposed to traumatic events. As one, albeit extreme example, Newman cited the countless fashion correspondents who descended on New York City for Fashion Week in September 2001, only to unwittingly find themselves covering the terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center towers and killed 2,753 people.
“Everyone thinks of combat war reporters or people doing on-the-ground reporting about drug trafficking as the kind of journalists who are at greater risk,” Newman explained. “But from the very beginning, we’ve always thought about the daily community reporter as well. Because it’s the common, ordinary, horrible events — accidents, fires, shootings, issues related to children, the coverage that doesn’t get you awards or promotions — that can be the most toxic. Community reporters are professional, daily witnesses to grief and human suffering.”
Laura Gómez Rodríguez tends to the garden at the National University of Colombia, where she completed her agroecology course for urban spaces. During the pandemic, Gómez Rodríguez began visiting a community garden in her south Phoenix neighborhood, where she discovered a sense of community and a deep connection to her grandparents, who were campesinos in Colombia. Photo by Carolina Navas for palabra
When Gómez Rodríguez began showing signs of distress, she said her editor initially encouraged her to suggest ways he could support her. Since she couldn’t even articulate what was happening to her, the task of figuring out a solution only further overwhelmed her. Initially, she couldn’t come up with anything.
Gómez Rodríguez continued to struggle in the ensuing months. In November of 2020, Small suggested that he keep track of her story drafts in a shared Google folder as a way of boosting her productivity. Gómez Rodríguez agreed. Shortly after that conversation, she received an email from human resources. Attached to the email was a performance improvement plan (PIP), a document that outlines the steps an employee must take to avoid job termination.
Gómez Rodríguez provided palabra with a copy of the PIP. The document noted her “exceptional” work reporting on Black, Brown, and immigrant communities and called her an “integral part of the Arizona Mirror team.” It also noted that Gómez Rodríguez’s performance had recently “slipped far below” standards and expectations. In order to keep her job, the PIP required Gómez Rodríguez to submit four stories a week, respond to Small’s calls, texts, or emails within 15 minutes, and write all of her stories in a folder shared with Small.
“Obviously, it didn’t help me feel more stable or supported,” Gómez Rodríguez said. “It actually really hurt me.”
Even taking time off during the winter holidays didn’t help her feel better. She ruminated over her performance improvement plan and dreaded going back to work. When she returned, she churned out pieces that she wasn’t proud of in an effort to meet her weekly story quota. In March 2021, Gómez Rodríguez said she contracted COVID, which again slowed her productivity and exacerbated her mental health struggles.
During the first months of 2021, Gómez Rodríguez slowly pieced together that her mental anguish stemmed from her work as a reporter. She realized this thanks to her own research and talks with friends and colleagues in other newsrooms. However, at the time, she didn’t entirely know how to communicate this to her boss — and she feared that speaking out would only lead to more disciplinary action.
The disciplinary action came anyway.
‘So very few editors know what to do when one of their reporters is struggling with mental health issues. To deal with that situation sensitively and with the care and concern it deserves, can be rare.’
Gómez Rodríguez received a second PIP in June 2021 that repeated the same concerns in the first plan. This time, it wasn’t distress she felt; it was anger. By now, she said, she knew that trying to comply with the PIPs’ demands to accelerate her productivity wasn’t the solution.
The second PIP emboldened Gómez Rodríguez to speak up. During a phone call with Small and a human resources representative, she said that her poor work performance was due to occupational and reporting-related trauma. In a follow-up email, Gómez Rodríguez admonished her newsroom for its “inability to address” her struggles. In retrospect, she believes States Newsroom should have better prepared her editor to recognize the signs of mental health distress.
In an emailed reply, States’ HR operations director wrote, “We do recognize the occupational hardships that come along with reporting and in particular the challenges of reporting over the past year, especially as a reporter of color.”
The HR director referred Gómez Rodríguez to an employee assistance program (EAP), which, at the time, was a new addition to States Newsroom benefits package. The program connected Gómez Rodríguez to a licensed professional counselor, who later diagnosed her with PTSD and major depressive disorder — more than a year after she first started experiencing symptoms.
palabra sent States Newsroom a detailed list of questions regarding Gómez Rodríguez’s claims about her time at the Arizona Mirror. In an emailed statement, Communications Director Lara Weber said that States Newsroom is “familiar with these allegations” and having “investigated thoroughly,” the organization declined to “revisit them” or “discuss personnel matters.” palabra also reached out to editor Jim Small and other newsroom leaders for comment and received no response.
Gómez Rodríguez provided palabra with documents, email threads between her and her newsroom, and other correspondence to support her claims.
Laura Gómez Rodríguez at one of the urban gardens at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá, where she volunteers and practices agroecology. Through gardening, she feels a strong connection to her grandparents — her maternal grandparents grew and sold coffee, while her paternal grandparents were organizers for farmworkers’ rights. Photo by Carolina Navas for palabra
The crushing toll
“Newsroom managers often fall into the trap of prioritizing coverage over an employee’s mental health,” said Hunter Paniagua, a union representative for the Pacific Media Workers Guild, a local of The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America.
It’s not always malicious, Paniagua said. Publications need coverage — their survival depends on it — and members of management don’t always understand the pressure they’re putting on reporters to deliver. Meanwhile, reporters struggling with their mental health often feel like they have no choice but to continue working, out of a sense of duty to their readers or the subjects of their stories. They may also continue out of fear of losing their job or health insurance.
“So few new editors are trained to manage people, even though that is such a big part of the job,” Paniagua said. “So very few editors know what to do when one of their reporters is struggling with mental health issues. To deal with that situation sensitively and with the care and concern it deserves, can be rare.”
The American Press Institute (API) released a mental health resource guide in 2023 that states, “The product — getting the story out the door — often comes before the staff, meaning a lot of bad management is committed under cover of deadline pressure.” The API guide includes multiple sections on how newsroom managers can support their staff’s emotional well being.
Gómez Rodríguez said her situation was further exacerbated by the fact that there was no one in her newsroom who fully understood her experience as an immigrant and woman of color witnessing and writing about the suffering of people like her. Her newsroom relied on Gómez Rodríguez to tell the stories of marginalized communities, a responsibility that fueled her at first, but eventually overwhelmed her.
“I think a lot of us feel this way, like we have to be the ones to do this kind of work because we’re the only ones on the team that have the context, the contacts, the knowledge, the interest in doing journalism this way,” Gómez Rodríguez said.
The API’s guide on mental health says, “Newsrooms today place heavy burdens on people of color, LGBTQ+ journalists and people from other marginalized groups. The discrimination, microaggressions and reliance on these groups for emotional labor and other kinds of unpaid work all take a toll on mental health.”
Laura Gómez Rodríguez at her office desk in her first newsroom job out of college at La Voz/The Arizona Republic. Photo by Beatriz Limón, courtesy of Laura Gómez Rodríguez
‘A systemic problem’
Gómez Rodríguez believes that the lack of diversity in her newsroom also contributed to the delay in recognizing and addressing her condition. In 2021, she became a member of the States Newsroom’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) committee and helped institute a policy that requires hiring managers to interview diverse applicants for jobs. That policy was allegedly violated by a new editor in Oregon. Members of a DEIJ subcommittee spoke out against the violation in an October 2021 letter to States’ executive leaders.
In the letter, members of the subcommittee wrote that the alleged violation by the Oregon editor was part of a systemic problem that prevented diversity within States’ newsrooms. States Newsroom didn’t comment about the alleged violation when asked by palabra. The letter also made a vague mention of Gómez Rodríguez’s experience at the Arizona Mirror: “It’s the same system that is allowing some States Newsroom reporters of color to be punished by their editors with story quotas for experiencing post-traumatic stress symptoms after covering emotionally challenging stories….”
In a follow-up call with the larger DEIJ committee, Gómez Rodríguez identified herself as the reporter of color who alleged punishment for mental health issues. In response, a national editor on the DEIJ committee — and the only person of color on the States Newsroom’s leadership team— said that the call was not the appropriate setting to discuss personnel issues. The editor then said, “We will defend the organization…when untruths are articulated.” Gómez Rodríguez shared details of the call with palabra.
Soon after that call, States Newsroom brought in an outside firm to investigate Gómez Rodríguez’s claim that she was “punished” for having PTSD. While the investigation was ongoing, her father was diagnosed with colon cancer. Feeling more fragile than ever, Gómez Rodríguez took time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act to travel to Colombia and be with him.
Laura Gómez Rodríguez waters plants at the orchard at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá, where she volunteers. Her gardening journey began in Phoenix, where the desert's degraded soil inspired her to learn about soil health and its connection to agriculture. This sparked her interest in soil life and agroecology, which emphasizes respect for all life within the ecosystem where food is grown. Photo by Carolina Navas for palabra
‘Where the rubber meets the road’
In the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health has become a more openly discussed subject in newsrooms. There are now more resources than ever before — including online leadership training and support groups. The Dart Center has a Journalist Trauma Support Network that helps connect journalists with qualified therapists. The Harvard Business Review and Investigative Reporters & Editors have guides for supporting journalists of color and creating a culture of inclusivity in newsrooms. API has even developed an inclusion index that helps assess how newsrooms perform in creating a sense of belonging for their employees, among other metrics.
New York Times reporter Jennifer Medina has covered her share of traumatic events, including multiple mass shootings. In 2011, Medina was at a dinner celebrating her 30th birthday when she got the call to cover the attempted assassination of former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
“I’ll never forget wrapping up the interviews and then sitting in the (hotel) lobby and just sobbing and being really worried about whether anybody would see me,” Medina said. “I for sure thought my crying would be seen as a sign of weakness. I don’t think that’s true anymore.”
‘There’s been a real generational change led by younger people who are more willing to have conversations about mental health.’
The culture of the journalism industry didn’t really account for the mental health of reporters in 2011, according to Medina. But today, she said the difference at her workplace is “night and day.” Medina cited a number of developments at the New York Times, including a partnership with the Dart Center and a program offering staffers free therapy sessions. The Times also hired a newsroom safety director who helps reporters with everything from obtaining a flak jacket and dealing with online harassment to preparing for difficult coverage.
“This has all been tremendously helpful, but obviously not everyone has the resources of the New York Times,” Medina said. “There’s been a real generational change led by younger people who are more willing to have conversations about mental health. Still, there are these bigger questions: How do their bosses respond to these conversations? You have these people at the top who can implement different policies, but do people at the bottom know about the policies and do people in the middle facilitate the policies? That’s really where the rubber meets the road.”
Through gardening, working with plants, seeing and caring for them, Laura Gómez Rodríguez has learned about how to care for herself, individually and collectively. Volunteering at the garden is an important way for her to have moments of silence, reflection and care, while continuing a practice that made life possible for her ancestors. Photo by Carolina Navas for palabra
Maya Bordeaux is a human resources executive and licensed attorney with over 25 years of experience, including working as the head of HR for the Tribune Publishing Company. She implements mandatory management training — including mental health awareness — in every workplace she oversees.
Legally, Bordeaux said it’s best for managers to refer employees to a benefits administrator to discuss mental health issues. A benefits administrator can point the employee toward resources for obtaining help. Human resources can also act as a shield for management, Bordeaux explained.
“It is typically illegal to take any kind of employment action against someone who is sick and who has notified management that they are not well,” Bordeaux said. “I’ve seen it too many times in my career where managers don’t know the law and end up discriminating against an employee because they disclosed a health condition that will require time off or certain accommodations. The manager decides to fire them because they need someone who’s going to work every day. Human resources would know to pump the brakes on that.”
Bordeaux’s comments to palabra referred to workplaces in general and were not directed specifically at States Newsroom.
Bordeaux recommends that newsrooms have a dedicated HR professional on site each day, and that newsrooms contract with an outside company to handle wellness matters. Bordeaux said that many of these companies are specifically trained to work with employees to determine the care and support they need to get well and be successful at work.
A tremendous cost
The results of the investigation regarding Gómez Rodríguez’s claim of “punishment” for having PTSD came back in March 2022, two weeks after she returned from caring for her father in Colombia. An HR official with States Newsroom emailed Gómez Rodríguez a summary of the results, which the organization said did not substantiate her claims regarding discrimination and inappropriate conduct by the newsroom. When Gómez Rodríguez disputed the results, the HR representative said the organization would not “further address or discuss the investigation.”
In that same email, the HR official noted that Gómez Rodríguez’s job performance continued to be “deficient” and told the reporter she would be “terminated” unless she chose to apply for short-term disability and/or request work accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She was also given the choice to resign voluntarily. Voluntary resignation came with three months of severance pay and benefits — if Gómez Rodríguez signed a separation agreement that included a non-disparagement clause.
When States Newsroom refused to remove the non-disparagement agreement, at Gómez Rodríguez’s request, she opted to apply for short-term disability. She also filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in April 2022, calling out her newsroom’s use of a non-disparagement clause in their separation agreement.
“I couldn’t sign the nondisparagement agreement. It just went against my ethics as a journalist. It was outrageous to me, the idea that as a journalist I would never be able to tell my story about what I experienced there,” Gómez Rodríguez said.
Laura Gómez Rodríguez at her mother's home in Bogotá, Colombia. Gómez Rodríguez now works as a freelance translator. Photo by Carolina Navas for palabra
In March 2024, States Newsroom chose to settle the NLRB case brought by Gómez Rodríguez. As a condition of the settlement, States Newsroom rescinded provisions in its severance agreement that the NLRB deemed “overly broad,” including the non-disparagement requirement. The settlement also requires States Newsroom to inform past employees who had signed their severance agreements about the rescinded provisions. States Newsroom must also post notices informing their current employees of their rights, such as the right to unionize, under the National Labor Relations Act.
In a separate case from February 2023, the NLRB ruled that severance agreements that include non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions may violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
States Newsroom’s decision to settle the NLRB case felt like a win to Gómez Rodríguez, but it came at a tremendous cost.
Support the voices of independent journalists. |
Even before opting to take short-term disability, Gómez Rodríguez had long felt disconnected from her job at the Arizona Mirror that once gave her so much purpose. Near the end of her six-month leave, her newsroom’s insurance approved Gómez Rodríguez for long-term disability leave. However, States Newsroom sent Gómez Rodríguez a letter that said the organization was unable to extend her leave. Instead, States Newsroom terminated Gómez Rodríguez. Despite her termination, she was still able to receive disability benefits.
“It’s not fair, what happened to me, but I know I stayed true to my values and my integrity,” she said. “After my dad was diagnosed with cancer, it felt less important to me to put all of my energy and brain power into work that wasn’t recognized or appreciated.”
Gómez Rodríguez said she felt like she had “no choice” but to leave journalism. She moved to Colombia to continue caring for her father, who passed away in September 2023. She currently works as a freelance translator. She said she misses being a reporter, but is unsure if she’ll ever go back to journalism. For now, she wants to pursue a new career path working with social impact projects related to food systems in Latin America.
“What I understand now is that the industry changed me,” Gómez Rodríguez said. “The values I have are the same; they just feel nonnegotiable now. I don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m going to get hurt again for standing up for my values and principles.”
Laura Gómez Rodríguez and her father in Colombia, 1996. Photo courtesy of Laura Gómez Rodríguez
—
Tina Vasquez is a movement journalist with more than 15 years of experience reporting on immigration, reproductive injustice, food, labor and culture. Currently, she is the features editor at the nonprofit newsroom Prism. Tina serves on the board of Press On, a Southern journalism collective that strengthens and expands the practice of journalism in service of liberation. She was born and raised in southeast Los Angeles and currently calls North Carolina home. @TheTinaVasquez
Carolina Navas graduated from the School of Social Communication at the Universidad del Valle in Colombia, and has taken part in numerous workshops related to photography and documentaries in Buenos Aires and Bogotá. Throughout her career she has worked as a documentary series director, photographer and cinematographer. @caro_navasg
Mónica Ortiz Uribe is an independent journalist based in southern New Mexico. She is the co-host of the podcast Forgotten: The Women of Juárez and the host of palabra’s podcast, Así Fue. Her work is featured on National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and the El Paso Times.