Emotional Literacy and News Journalism
Authors: Jukes, S.
Editors: Fowler-Watt, K.
Publication Date: 17/07/2026
Publisher: Routledge
Abstract:From the bloody Israeli-Palestinian conflict and trench warfare in Ukraine to rubble-strewn earthquakes and images of starving children, today’s news bulletins are laden with emotion, trauma and personal tragedy. Journalists know instinctively that such emotion is, and always has been, an indispensable component of news reporting and an essential tool to engage audiences. But over the past decade, in an age of social media and user-generated content, the volume of distressing images and video footage has taken the emotional content of news journalism to unprecedented levels. In this climate, there is a growing focus, both in the profession of journalism and in the academic world of journalism education, on the role of emotion in news. This ‘emotional turn’ has been accompanied by calls for journalists to be more aware of their own emotions and of the emotions of those caught up in news stories. In short, today’s journalist is expected to be ‘emotionally literate’. But what does this increasingly used phrase actually mean in practice? This chapter examines the question from two perspectives. Firstly, it discusses how journalists can learn to manage their own emotions and the tensions with normative values of detached or ‘objective’ journalism. It investigates practical tools journalists employ both consciously and unconsciously to cope with the stresses and strains of their day-to-day work and to shield them from the emotions and trauma of those they are reporting on. Secondly, the chapter examines how teaching a fuller understanding of emotion can help journalists conduct better interviews with victims and survivors of personal tragedy; how it can lessen the risk of re-traumatisation; and how an empathic approach can lead to richer stories. In the final analysis, it is argued that emotional literacy not only protects the mental wellbeing of journalists but also leads to better and more responsible news journalism.
Source: Manual