By GPC News Desk
Behind the stories of violence, death and human suffering that journalists deliver to the public lies a quieter struggle: the emotional toll of reporting on pain while battling pressure to appear strong.
Across African newsrooms, journalists are increasingly confronting mental health challenges linked to traumatic assignments, relentless deadlines, job insecurity and a workplace culture that often treats emotional vulnerability as weakness.
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In Kenya, the death of former television reporter Kimani Mbugua, who died by suicide at a rehabilitation centre in October 2025 aged 29, brought renewed attention to the crisis. Months before his death, Mbugua had publicly sought help as he struggled with bipolar disorder.
A 2021 survey by the Media Council of Kenya found that 62 per cent of respondents knew a colleague who had experienced work-related mental health challenges.
For Brygettes Ngana, a regional editor at Nation Media Group who investigated Mbugua’s decline, the experience was deeply painful. Her reporting team won Kenya’s Journalist of the Year award for its coverage, but the recognition came with difficult questions about the industry’s responsibility towards struggling journalists.
“We failed him. Society failed him,” Ngana said.
She believes newsrooms must move beyond acknowledging the problem and establish practical support systems, including routine debriefing after traumatic assignments and confidential access to professional counselling.
The burden is not confined to Kenya. In Nigeria, documentary photographer and journalist Pelumi Salako has covered mass killings, security attacks and abductions, experiences that continue to haunt him long after assignments end.
He relies on running, video games and conversations with colleagues to manage the emotional strain, although he acknowledges that informal support cannot replace professional therapy.
For freelance journalists, the challenge is compounded by financial uncertainty and isolation. Zimbabwean investigative journalist Linda Mujuru said freelancers must constantly pitch stories to secure income while absorbing the trauma of the people they interview, often without colleagues or supervisors to turn to.
“You have no one to turn to,” she said.
Women journalists face additional pressures when professional demands collide with motherhood. Ngana recalled experiencing postpartum depression after struggling to balance assignments with pregnancy and the return to work after maternity leave.
“It felt like motherhood had become a disability,” she said, describing an environment in which the demands of motherhood could undermine a woman’s sense of security in the newsroom.
In Uganda, broadcaster Ruth Adong said covering the killing of four toddlers at a Kampala nursery school on April 2 was particularly distressing. As a mother, she struggled to separate her professional duty to report the tragedy from the emotional impact of the violence.
“There is this idea that you have to be unfeeling,” she said. “But days like this remind you that you are human first.”
Meanwhile, data journalist Jackline Macharia said repeatedly watching graphic footage during investigations can leave disturbing images replaying in her mind long after publication.
The consequences are intensified by stigma, with some journalists fearing that seeking therapy could damage their professional reputations. Others turn to alcohol or leave journalism altogether.
Journalists across the four countries are calling for confidential counselling, peer support, time to recover after difficult assignments and more humane newsroom management.
For Ngana, the solution begins with recognising that no journalist is immune.
“Tomorrow, it could be me,” she said.
Her proposed remedy is simple: newsrooms should provide spaces where journalists can decompress after witnessing too much suffering.
Editor’s note: This story is a summary of a story published by Reuters headlined: “Journalists across Africa are struggling to stay afloat under the weight of their own stories.” Read the full story here: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/journalists-across-africa-are-struggling-stay-afloat-under-weight-their-own-stories
