Based on an assessment of the emotional distress of the targeted journalist, a brief temporary leave can minimize potential trauma. Granting leave in such situations is a common practice in newsrooms, especially in departments frequently exposed to violent or highly stressful content such those working with user-generated content (UGC).
Best Practices:
In an interview with IPI, Reuters’s UGC editor in London explained that she recommends journalists to take a long weekend off from time to time. Journalists working with UGC are tasked with verifying social media posts across the web are exposed to hundreds of hours of violent footage and images from war zones or natural disasters.