What We Do
Talking: our podcast promotes conversations about mental health in the media
Headlines Network exists to create connections and drive conversations towards improving mental health in the media and communications industries.
One of the ways we do this is through our podcast, where we speak with well-known journalists about the stories they have covered, those that have impacted them and how they manage their mental health. Our guests have included Lyse Doucet and Lindsey Hilsum, Clive Myrie, Marianna Spring, Gina Chua, Stuart Ramsay, Bryony Gordon, Mark Little and James Longman. Listen to the episodes here: Behind the Headlines with Headlines Network | Podfollow
The past two years have been incredibly difficult for many people working in the news media sector. Many of the challenges that impacted the mental health of journalists in the months and years before the global pandemic have been exacerbated by Covid. The levels of anxiety are unprecedented and yet barriers still exist which prevent many in our profession from speaking openly about their experiences.
We know hearing others' stories can help us feel less isolated. We understand the value of effective communication and the value of that to role modelling and leadership. We have significant experience in facilitating conversations at an industry level and with individual newsrooms, helping create space so people feel heard and able to share their own experiences. As neutral experts, we have helped bridge the conversations between management and journalists. We have also got extensive experience in advising leaders on how to model the kind of behaviour that helps ensure cultures of compassion, inclusion and empathy.
Training
As journalists, we know newsrooms. As mental health thought leaders, we also know how those environments are often ill-suited to supporting journalists’ wellbeing. By combining our experience in the media and mental health spaces, we offer unique practical training to help you and your colleagues better recognise the language of mental health, spot stress before it stalls you, and thrive.
Our pilot project was supported by the Google News Initiative and launched in late 2021. It included interactive workshops for UK journalists across the industry - from entry level to senior management. We were delighted to be joined for the workshops by mental health experts, including Mind, the UK charity, Dr Sian Williams, the broadcaster and counselling psychologist and Dr Mo Qadri from Cast Care Clinic.
As part of our next phase of work, we are developing training for managers in newsrooms to help them support their colleagues’ mental health while recognising their own.
Tips
We have also launched a suite of resources for journalists in an industry-first initiative with the mental health charity Mind. Again, this work has been made possible with the support of the Google News Initiative.
They were developed as a direct result of what we heard during our workshops: that journalists wanted easy to access and practical tips to help them manage their mental health and to support their colleagues while recognising the reality of newsrooms and news reporting.
To date, we have developed videos and written documents for colleagues, focussed on self-care and supporting colleagues. These were launched at the International Festival of Journalism in Perugia. We will shortly publish a practical set of guidance for journalists on how to recognise and mitigate against the risk of vicarious trauma. Other resources will follow.
Our Team
Hannah Storm, Founder and Director
Hannah Storm, Founder and Director
Hannah Storm, Founder and Director
Hannah is the founder of Headlines. A media expert, trainer and thought leader, with global connections, she brings vision, values and empathy and an expertise in journalism safety, mental health, gender and media ethics.
She is the former director of the International News Safety Institute and the Ethical Journalism Network, a sought-af
Hannah is the founder of Headlines. A media expert, trainer and thought leader, with global connections, she brings vision, values and empathy and an expertise in journalism safety, mental health, gender and media ethics.
She is the former director of the International News Safety Institute and the Ethical Journalism Network, a sought-after speaker, facilitator, trainer and writer. Hannah co-authored the first study into moral injury and the media for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism with Professor Anthony Feinstein and has written extensively at the intersection of gender, mental health, physical and online safety. She brings deep-rooted research, practical experience and personal understanding to convene conversations at an industry level to explore challenges and create collaborative solutions to bring change to journalism communities and practice. She is also a qualified Mental Health First Aider with MHFA England.
John Crowley, Director
Hannah Storm, Founder and Director
Hannah Storm, Founder and Director
John is an editor, trainer and consultant with 20 years of journalistic experience managing newsrooms and budgets across a variety of titles. After taking on digital and leadership roles for The Daily Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and The Irish Post, he now writes across subjects including technology, business, newsroom ma
John is an editor, trainer and consultant with 20 years of journalistic experience managing newsrooms and budgets across a variety of titles. After taking on digital and leadership roles for The Daily Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and The Irish Post, he now writes across subjects including technology, business, newsroom management and sustainability. John, who is regularly asked to speak on the subject of wellbeing in newsrooms, is a trained mental health first aider with MHFA England In November 2020, he co-published a report into wellbeing entitled ‘Journalism in the Time of Covid’.
Behind the Headlines podcast
Hannah Storm and John Crowley speak with Fergal Keane, in a special episode to coincide with the launch of his new book ‘The Madness’.
After decades covering some of the most dangerous places in the world, Fergal reflects on the trauma he has experienced as a journalist, and how his childhood shaped his mental health. This conversation takes us from his Irish roots to reflections on the genocide in Rwanda, and the guilt he felt after, to Ukraine where he has covered the refugee story in his commitment to step back from conflict.