Trauma and journalist’ safety: Coping strategies and post-traumatic stress symptoms in professionals covering international conflicts

The safety of journalists covering conflict goes beyond their physical protection. It includes the psychological impact of repeated exposure to traumatic events. This study employs a mixed methodology across two complementary studies to analyse how revictimization, coping strategies, and working conditions affect the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in journalists. In Study 1 (qualitative) we conducted 24 in-depth interviews to experienced conflict journalists that revealed a culture of silence around trauma, a consistent absence of support protocols in the media, and the widespread use of emotional suppression as a coping strategy. In Study 2 (quantitative, n = 85) we applied a moderate mediation model (PROCESS Macro, Model 10) to verify these findings. Results showed clinically relevant levels of PTSD (M = 36.98), with 54.12% of the sample exceeding the cut-off point. We identified a direct effect of revictimization on PTSD in journalists conditioned by working conditions. We also found that the indirect effect (revictimization → emotional suppression → PTSD) was significant for journalists with precarious contracts, regardless of the break after coverage. These results underline that job insecurity enhances the harmful role of emotional suppression, situating trauma not as an inevitable collateral damage, but as a result of the interaction between risk exposure, individual coping strategies, and the labour structures of the media.