And you thought it couldn’t get worse than 2020? Here's a series of timely tips and coaching for real world journalism with Kevin Benz. The webinar is called "Beating Burnout: Managing mental health in crisis" Benz discusses how to identify the symptoms of burnout (which is a real mental health issue brought on by stress and isolation – sound familiar?), how to differentiate it from simple exhaustion and then how to avoid it. This is aimed both at news managers trying to take care of their team (and themselves) as well as individual staff trying to cope day-to-day. Click here to see an archive of the first of three webinars.
You can register for the other two upcoming webinars:
Context in Crisis: Making the right call in crisis and breaking news coverage
Here we focus specifically on fast, accurate and fair coverage of the most recent events in
journalism — the insurrection at the Capitol, COVID-19, racial justice and equality, law enforcement,
protest and violence. We discuss what questions to ask in order to ensure thorough, complete, and
ethical reporting on these very difficult topics. Including how working while exhausted and working
fast can get in the way of thorough reporting.
Thursday, February 25 – 9:30am MTN: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4239230360?pwd=NFA0Y0t1WUViWm42OHhYRG81L055dz09
Covering Law Enforcement: Being fair and holding accountable
Law enforcement dominates the day-to-day work of journalists and we must remember there is no
more powerful government agency in the daily life of our audience. It is journalism’s highest
obligation to hold law enforcement accountable for the enormous power society gives them. The
relationship between the press and the police is complicated — we must be fair, we must be
courageous and we must be independent. Here’s how.
Thursday, March 18 – 9:30am MTN: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4239230360?pwd=NFA0Y0t1WUViWm42OHhYRG81L055dz09
Kevin Benz is a self-described “recovering” news director, Kevin is well-known as an inspiring, engaging speaker. He coaches thousands of journalists and hundreds of newsrooms around the country with his own style of pragmatic, ethical craft. His 30 years in newsrooms and reporting on the streets provide a unique understanding of what journalists need – especially in today’s rapidly changing reporting environment.
These webinars are brought to members FREE of charge by the Montana Broadcasters Association.