What causes stress? And what helps? We put these two questions to around 100 journalism executives during seven round-table discussions. The answers to the second question are now available to everyone in the journalism industry.
The guide ‘Stark unter Druck’ is available to download free of charge (nrch.de/sus). It includes easily accessible resources designed to make day-to-day editorial work easier. It also brings together insights from many newsrooms across Germany. Stress is often treated as an individual problem, even though in many cases it stems from structural issues. The consequences affect not only individuals, but also teams and organisations – and thus, indirectly, quality, the capacity for innovation and the retention of skilled staff.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the round-table discussions and made such a trusting exchange possible. And thank you to Malte Werner from Netzwerk Recherche and Juliana Rufus from the European Centre for Journalism and Trauma, without whom it would have been difficult to imagine this project coming to fruition.
You don’t have to work through the guide from start to finish. You can simply pick out what suits you and give it a go. We look forward to your feedback and experiences.
And thanks also to the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media for funding our project as part of the programme for the structural support of journalism. In these political times, support initiatives that benefit the entire sector are perhaps needed more than ever.
Key details
Project duration: May 2025 – July 2026
Based at: Mindful Media Lab at the Institute for Culture and Media Management, University of Music and Theatre, Hamburg, in cooperation with Netzwerk Recherche e.V.
Project leader: Prof. Dr Barbara Hans
Implementation: Prof. Dr Barbara Hans, Malte Werner, Juliana Ruhfus
