The severity of emotional burnout syndrome among regional journalists

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. The relevance of the topic is justified by the attention of society to the mental health of journalists in connection with the tense geopolitical situation: in 2022, UNESCO released a policy document “Safety of Journalists Covering Traumatic and Suffering Events”. The purpose of this study is to identify symptoms of emotional burnout syndrome in young journalists of the Penza region and correlate them with job satisfaction indicators in the editorial office.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The leading method was an anonymous survey of regional journalists (based on the media of the Penza region) aged 20–30 years using psychological methods for diagnosing the level of emotional burnout syndrome and job satisfaction.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. In editorial offices, there is a priority of collective work over individual achievements: this is showed by high indicators on the scale of reduction of personal achievements. However, orientation towards collective work increases self-satisfaction. Compared with those subjects who had high indicators of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, the severity of BS in the group of subjects with reduction of personal achievements is almost two times lower.CONCLUSION. It is possible to talk about a fairly high level of loyalty of Penza journalists to their editorial office – about 65 %. However, the rest of the young journalists do not receive moral or material support to the required extent. The diagnostic data obtained can be used in media psychology classes for journalism students and for developing trainings.