Helpline aside, journalists need supportive, empathetic newsrooms & editors, who have your back, who care for your well-being, & don't rush you back to the field after you've fallen sick or are dealing with a crisis. This is true for newsrooms across mediums -- print, TV, online. https://twitter.com/fayedsouza/status/1392062280771072000

Reporters in their mid & late 20s are experiencing extreme burn-out. The pay is SHIT, there's no training in how to report when there's a pandemic, or state-sponsored violence. No safety gear. No counselling. Yes, it's always been like this. But it has to change.

There's been constant fear of losing jobs, and of course the pay-cuts. I'm not even going to talk about what it's like being a reporter belonging to a minority community or a woman in a newsroom because it's a whole other essay.

I, for one, hold on to the hope that my contemporaries are unlearning how to run newsrooms, and will do better when it's our time. Empathy shouldn't be limited to our own byline, it has to extend to our colleagues & the newsroom.

A brilliant journalist just DM-ed me that "it's not like reporters in their 30s are having a picnic." Hahaha. Definitely NOT. We are in tears all day