Two leaders in Canada’s journalism industry launched an unprecedented online survey of mental health and well-being earlier this week. The Taking Care Survey is seeking anonymous input from thousands of staff, freelance journalists and others involved in news and editorial work from coast to coast to coast.
The first-of-its-kind research project is led by Matthew Pearson, an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University in Ottawa, and Dave Seglins, a veteran journalist and trainer with CBC News, in partnership with the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma.
The research is also formally endorsed by numerous industry groups including the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) and the Fédération professionelle des journalistes du Québec (FPJQ).
There have been studies conducted in Scandinavia, Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S., but there’s never been a study conducted in Canada at this scale on journalists’ mental health and the effects of the work they do.
The Taking Care Survey is available in both French and English at the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma’s website.
