Dr. Kortni (00:00)
Welcome to the Compassionate Newsroom, your gateway to transforming the heart and soul of journalism. I'm your host, Dr. Kortni Alston Lemon. I'm a former news director and television reporter turned happiness scholar. Now I train news leaders and journalists worldwide, teaching them how to cultivate workplace wellbeing and resilience with positive psychology. Each week, join me as I share evidence-based strategies.
and talk with some of the most inspiring people in the industry, including news leaders, journalists, trainers, and mental health experts. Together we'll share actionable approaches to help you. Imagine a newsroom that not only cares about the story, but profoundly values the people behind them. A place where compassion is the competitive advantage. Don't just listen, become part of this transformative journey. Subscribe to and share The Compassionate Newsroom. Let's champion a more supportive,
healthier and happier newsroom culture, one episode at a time.
Dr. Kortni Alston Lemon (01:03)
Welcome back to the Compassionate Newsroom. I'm your host, Dr. Kortni In episode one, we explore why newsrooms urgently need mental health first aid. Today, we're gonna take it one step further. I wanted to demystify it for you because I know what some of you might be thinking, is this therapy, do I need a psychology degree to help?
And what if I say the wrong thing? Well, I am here to set the record straight. Mental health first aid is not therapy. It's not a diagnosis. It's not your job to fix someone. But it is your opportunity to recognize the signs of mental health or substance use challenge and offer initial support and connect them.
with the help they may need. Think of it like this. It's like CPR, but for emotional support. And it's evidence-based. That means the skills you learn in this training aren't just nice ideas, they're backed by science and have been provided and tested in real life settings across workplaces like schools and hospitals.
And according to my last episode, more more newsrooms in the UK, and it's time to bring those numbers to the United States and around the world. So when you take mental health first aid training and become a mental health first aider, you're introduced to a five step action plan known as ALGEE So I'm gonna walk you through it. The A stands for Approach Assess.
for risk of suicide or harm and assist. You learn how to approach someone with compassion. The action plan centers around assess for two reasons. Mental health first aiders need to continually assess whether the individual is in crisis. Second one, mental health first aiders should always be aware of any changes to this situation
so they can adjust their approach accordingly. Now let's talk about the L, listen non-judgmentally. Now will admit this is one of my favorite elements. because it's about listening non-judgmentally. To me, it's also about creating a space, a pause where someone feels seen, heard, and safe.
You're not rushing to solve. You're not interrupting with advice. You're simply present. Now as a happiness scholar, I know that psychological safety begins with connection and it also begins with how we listen. In journalism, we're trained to listen for the soundbites. In mental health first aid, we listen for signs of suffering and we do it without judgment, without fixing it.
We just do it with care. So here is the G, and it's to give reassurance and information. you'll learn how to validate what someone is going through.
without offering false hope and how to remind them that help is available. And here's the first out of our two E's. The first E, encourage appropriate professional help. You're not a clinician, but you are the bridge. You can point someone toward counseling, human resources, or community resources.
Now our last E is encourage self-help and other support strategies. That includes healthy coping practices like exercising, meditation, journaling, or even leaning in on trusted friends and mentors. See, ALGEE isn't just about memorizing buzzwords. It's a framework. It's flexible, it's compassionate, and it's practical.
So now let's talk about where this can show up in journalism. And we're just talking about some scenarios here. Perhaps a producer breaks down in a bathroom after back-to-back coverage of a mass shooting.
An intern hasn't said a word in an editorial meeting all week and they're usually upbeat. A photojournalist starts drinking more heavily after returning from a high-conflict assignment. Or possibly a veteran reporter who normally pitches five stories a week or daily and now suddenly has none, but also they've been very distant.
In the newsroom.
Now we're going to talk about some actual situations that can add emotional toll of covering stories. And that's about racism while you're also living it. Now that's what happened to five Black journalists at CBS 4 Denver who bravely shared their personal and professional experiences with racism as part of the station's coverage.
of Black Lives Matter demonstrations. In the story, producers, reporters, and an anchor opened up about what it means to report on injustice while facing it in their own lives. One producer shared, No matter how far I've gone, it sticks, where the stigma of your blackness makes people uncomfortable. While another shared this, covering the Black Lives Matter movement was hard.
harder than COVID because it was so personal. Their honesty highlights something we need to talk about more.
The Asian American Journalists Association, better known in the United States as AAJA, also continues to lead the way in naming this truth. In a March 2024 article titled, Three Years After AAJA Started Focusing on Journalists, Mental Wellness, New Resources Are Available, But Structural Change Is Scarce.
It outlined how Asian American and Pacific Islander journalists continue to face compounding mental health stressors. Following the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, where six of the eight victims were of Asian descent, AAJA has expanded their mental wellness program, offering therapy grants and listening circles for their members.
University of California Los Angeles, in this case the Center for Health Policy Research, American Pacific Islander data highlights how cultural stigma, historical trauma, and fear of violence weigh heavily on Asian American Pacific Islander journalists.
especially those covering hate crimes, And this conversation must, it must go further. The strain of covering hate, extremism, and identity-based violence in today's political climate here in the United States and around the world affects not just journalists who are Black and Asian,
but LGBTQ plus journalists, indigenous journalists, women, journalists with disabilities and other marginalized communities. This trauma is often collective, it's chronic and can also make a person feel very invisible. Journalists are tasked with telling the truth during times of rising division, threats and backlash.
And that's why mental health first aid training in newsrooms is not just important, it's urgent. It teaches us how to show up for one another with awareness, with care, and without judgment. It gives us a shared language, a protocol, and a practice. And it reminds us that support shouldn't be a luxury. It should be part of our newsroom culture.
These aren't just stressful moments. These are compounded traumas and they happen while journalists are expected to remain composed, productive, and professional.
Mental Health First Aid helps you see these moments not as a personality change to avoid, but as invitations to engage. It gives you the framework for responding with empathy, not avoidance. And as a certified first aider, you become the early responders. People who notice. People who step in. And help. Help others feel seen, supported,
and safe. I'll be including the CBS4 Denver article as well as the AAJA article in the show notes for this episode.
we're seeing the value of mental health first aid across industries and the results are transformative.
Here's an example. One comes from the Providence St. Joseph Health. Now since 2016, they've certified 45 caregivers as mental health first aid instructors. But it's not about the number, it's about the cultural shift as one leader shared. Typically, when we don't know how to respond to something, we pretend we didn't see it. However,
Mental Health First Aid normalizes mental health concerns so that when these mental health crisis occur, we can address them or address the situation head on. Now, this training has helped Providence St. Joseph Health move from avoidance to awareness. It's opened the doors to new community partners and inspired them to expand the program.
adding trauma-informed care and behavioral health dashboards to track change. They're building something sustainable and measurable. Now, let's talk about Missouri. Since 2006, the Missouri Department of Mental Health has trained more than 37,000 mental health first aiders. 37,000!
and have certified 300 instructors across the state. It started with a grant, but grew into a statewide movement supported by universities, public health leaders, and even the former governor. The director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, whose name is Mark Stringer, described it this way.
The concept is eloquently simple. It makes immediate sense to people. A lot of us have had physical first aid training, but not behavioral first aid training. Mental health first aid makes a lot of sense in this day and age. So the Missouri Department of Mental Health has focused its training on veterans, public safety, officers, homeless populations, and many more.
team even recommends that every police officer in the state receive mental health first aid training. Let me repeat that. Their crisis intervention team even recommends that every police officer in the state receives mental health first aid training.
from health systems to entire states, these examples show us that mental health first aid isn't just a training, it's a turning point. And our newsrooms can be next. You've heard me say it before. Of course, I'm a happiness scholar and I study how we build wellbeing, resilience and purpose in workspaces that demand so much of us, right? The core of my work.
is workplace wellbeing. Mental health first aid is the most important, actionable way we can bridge that science with reality. It empowers us to care in a way that's structured, ethical, and healing. And this isn't just about supporting others too, it's also about supporting our own limits. This training gives you the language for your own feelings and wellbeing. It builds community.
and it breaks stigma. So in our final episode of the series, I'll walk you through how you can become a certified mental health first aider. I'll introduce a pilot program that I've designed specifically for journalists and news leaders and how you can be part of the first cohort to receive this training through the KALM Institute. So stay with me. The next step could change how your newsroom works.
and how you work within your newsroom. If you found value in today's episode, send it to someone in your newsroom. Invite a conversation, start normalizing support. Also take it out of your newsroom. Share it with colleagues at other news stations across the country and around the world. Because when we know how to help, we lead with empathy. And when we know how to lead with empathy, well,
We change everything. I'm Dr. Kortni. And always remember your wellbeing is your most important job. And I'm always here to help. See you next week.
Dr. Kortni (13:52)
for tuning into the Compassionate Newsroom podcast. Together we can transform workplace wellbeing in news. If you found value in today's episode, please share it with a colleague to help foster a supportive environment in the industry. And don't forget to subscribe and also visit our website for more resources at thecompassionatenewsroom.com.
