FromTaiye Joseph
Media practitioners in Nigeria, have been encouraged to prioritise their health amid stressful work conditions, to enhance their mental and physical well-being.
This call was made by Kofoworola Belo-Osagie, a development journalist and WSCIJ/ReportWomen Fellow, during a 1-Day Media Personnel Advocacy Roundtable held at Ilorin, on Tuesday.
The event, themed “Mind Matter: Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing for Journalists,” was organised by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism in partnership with Albarka 89.9 FM and funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
Belo-Osagie emphasized four critical areas for journalists to focus on for mental well-being: stress management, diet, exercise, and sleep.
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She pointed out that the nature of journalism, makes practitioners prone to stress, a significant risk factor for high blood pressure (HBP). “High blood pressure increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and some cancers,” she noted.
She identified several factors that contribute to high blood pressure, including being overweight, consuming too much salt, inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables, lack of exercise, excessive alcohol or caffeine consumption, smoking, stress, age, genetics, and living in deprived areas.
Belo-Osagie stressed that making healthy lifestyle changes can reduce the risk of high blood pressure and manage it if it’s already high.
Work-related stress factors such as deadlines, workload, occupational hazards, unethical practices, office politics, conflict, and poor time management were also highlighted.
Additional stress include digital overload, poor diet, people-pleasing, emotional suppression, living in the past or future, fear of failure, excessive responsibilities, perfectionism, financial pressure, unhealthy relationships, unresolved childhood trauma, and family issues.
Belo-Osagie stressed the need for media organizations to adopt management roles that focus on welfare, health insurance, transportation allowances, proper conflict resolution structures, humane performance reviews, and therapy for those in need. She also recommended creating a culture of belonging and providing morale-boosting incentives.
Lekan Otufodunrin from the Media Career Development Network presented a paper on how to pitch stories. He explained that pitching involves proposing and persuading an editor or funder to support a story idea, often to secure funding for major reports that require travel and accommodation.
Otufodunrin emphasized the importance of justifying the story’s relevance, potential impact, and novelty. He advised journalists to pitch to editors, funding organizations, media NGOs, companies, and individuals.
He suggested following grant announcements from major media organizations, reading guidelines carefully, and complying with every instruction to avoid disqualification.
Otufodunrin also highlighted the importance of demonstrating a track record of successful investigations and support from editors, providing templates for pitching, including a subject line, story brief, research/data analysis, field assignments, travel dates, and a detailed budget.
