Opinion | Sitting in the overwhelm

That’s what we all appear to be in, based on many recent conversations I’ve had with different people. This wasn’t the column I intended to write this week. I was plotting a completely different course until a colleague walked into my office late one evening while I was working and sat down.

Usually, when someone walks into my office and immediately sits down, I know we’re about to switch into counselling mode. That’s par for the course of being a journalist. We’re good at listening.

And sometimes, we ourselves need an ear to bounce back everything we absorb and process. Many times, all the information we consume and report back on leaves us feeling both hopeless and helpless. Everyone believes the press has the power to fix everything.

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Oftentimes, we are reminded of the power of the pen, as seen in The Witness’ weekly Impact report, where we reflect on and celebrate the media’s weekly wins. It’s a powerful practice to step back and reflect not only on what we achieve, but to remind ourselves that our reporting does make an impact, and that this impact is our job — if our reporting does not make an impact, then what is the purpose of what we do? The expectation of this power, however, can take a toll on journalists.

As I listen to my colleague, the column that starts forming in my mind instead reads more like an ode to all the courageous journalists I am privileged to know and work with, who hardly get the luxury of switching off. Who respond to work calls on their days off, because journalism is not a job; it’s a lifestyle and the news doesn’t stop even when you want to. Journalists who survive and thrive amid this perpetual state of overwhelm.

Who wake up to, or get woken up by, reports of a murder, sometimes in their own communities. Who start their day at horrific accident scenes and then report back to the office and continue with whatever news the day throws at us. Who cover protests and get manhandled by protestors and carry on, despite the trauma.

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