Understanding Moral Injury in Journalism

We are seeking to recruit journalists to participate in research into moral injury in journalism.

Occupational moral injury has, for the most part, been studied in military and frontline occupations, and journalism has received very little attention despite being a high-risk occupation. It is not clear the extent to which findings from research on military and frontline worker populations are applicable to journalism.

We would like to invite you to participate in a 30-minute interview to explore your views regarding the following:

• The types of events that journalists might encounter in their work that have the potential to result in moral distress.
• Organizational and occupational factors that might exacerbate or alleviate the risk of moral injury.
• What journalists might like to know about moral distress and injury that might support them in their work.

Eligibility 

The following are eligible to participate in this study:

• Current and former practicing journalists
• Journalists with any amount of experience, including those at the start of their career, those with lengthy career gaps, and those who have not practiced for several years
• Journalists with experience in any domain (e.g., domestic/international, metropolitan/regional/remote, print/broadcast/online)

Individuals who have never practiced journalism are not eligible to participate.

Register your interest

Please email project lead Kari James on: kari.james@uq.net.au if you are interested in being involved. She will tell you a bit more about the project and answer any questions you may have. Interviews with eligible participants will be held either in person or via Zoom.

This study has been approved by The University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee [2022/HE000713].