“Too Much Stress” for “Too Little Reward”: COVID-19 Effects on Reporter’s Workloads and Work/Life Balance

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged historic precepts for local American television news. Reporters were suddenly working from home, often alone, dealing with new health safety protocols, and covering a grim and frightening new reality. Seeking an understanding of this sudden and dramatic shift in the ways in which local television news was reported, researchers conducted in-depth interviews during summer 2021 with 20 local television reporters from large, medium, and small Nielsen designated marketing areas (DMA) across the U.S. about their experiences during the pandemic. Thematic analysis revealed changes in reporters’ workloads, burnout, and a lack of work/life balance that may lead to changes in the ways in which reporters gather and produce news and interact with their colleagues and audiences.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the University of North Florida [N/A].

Notes on contributors

Nataliya Roman

Nataliya Roman is an Associate Professor in the UNF School of Communication. She teaches multimedia journalism, social media content creation, theoretical and research classes. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Roman worked as a reporter and documentary filmmaker for several prominent Ukrainian TV channels. During this time, Dr. Roman covered the Orange Revolution when 500,000 people were protesting fraudulent elections in the streets of Kyiv. She also handled international assignments, reporting from Russia, Poland, and the U.S. In 2010 and 2011 Dr. Roman worked as a reporter for Voice of America in the Washington D.C. office. Dr. Roman has published in European Journal of Communication, International Communication Gazette, Electronic News, Social Media + Society, and Journalism Studies. She specializes in researching international and political communication. One of her main areas of expertise is Eastern Europe and specifically Ukraine.

Berrin Beasley

Dr. Berrin A. Beasley is a Professor in the School of Communication, University of North Florida, where she teaches multimedia journalism. A former award-winning reporter and editor, she covered police news along with city and county government and education. Her research interests include American media history and media ethics with a focus on social media ethics. Her research has been published in nationally and internationally-recognized journals such as Information, Communication & Society, European Journal of Communication, Journalism Studies, Electronic News, Mass Communication and Society, Newspaper Research Journal, Journal of Radio Studies, and the Association of Schools in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Journal Insights, among other journals. Dr. Beasley has authored multiple book chapters on American media history and media ethics, and co-edited three scholarly books: Social Media and COVID-19: Well-Being, Truth, Misinformation and Authenticity; Social Media and the Value of Truth; and Social Media and Living Well. She co-edited the 4th edition of the Research Methods in Communication textbook. Dr. Beasley has been named an Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher of the Year at UNF and is a nationally certified Master Online Teacher through the Illinois Online Network, a part of the University of Illinois.