‘Like hanging on to a freight train’: Veteran journalist fights to have his work-related PTSD recognized

While covering the brutal jailhouse killing of Adam Kargus in London, Ont., veteran CBC journalist Colin Butler noticed he wasn’t feeling like his usual self.

“I started to see things in my mind’s eye,” Butler said. Images of the killer’s face would flash through his memory of him, as did the faces of victims in other cases he’s covered over the years, including that of eight-year-old Tori Staffordwho was abducted and killed near Woodstock, Ont., in 2009.

Known as the “go-to guy” among bosses and colleagues, Butler was dispatched daily to cover breaking news and difficult, often thick court cases. But after covering the Kargus trial in 2019, Butler found himself crying every day at work. “I couldn’t control it anymore,” he said. Soon after, Butler was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

A study released Wednesday by two veteran journalists through the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma, titled “Taking Care,” found a majority of media workers in Canada have sought medical help to deal with symptoms of stress and trauma. Much of this toll is driven by constant exposure to difficult material at work, a culture that rewards overworking while sidelining mental health concerns, and recently, growing rates of harassment against journalists, online and off.

The findings, gathered through a voluntary survey of more than 1,200 journalists and others in media nationwide, paint a worrying picture of the state of mental health in the industry, said Matthew Pearson, an assistant professor at Carleton University’s School of Journalism, who co- authored the report with journalist Dave Seglins. (The author of this article has taken the survey.)

“I would describe the findings as concerning,” Pearson said. “I would also describe them as a confirmation of what we had wondered about but did not have conclusive evidence to back up: that journalists and media workers in Canada are not immune to the impact of the trauma that they encounter,” much like first responders , he said.

For Butler, a big challenge has been the battle for his PTSD to be recognized and compensated by Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), after the board dismissed his initial claim in October 2019. The board, Butler said, ruled the traumatic stress he experienced was tied to a disagreement with a colleague after he refused to continue covering the Kargus trial, and not due to cumulative exposure to trauma for years as part of his job.

Butler has since appealed, arguing that journalists can suffer PTSD in the same way that front-line responders do.

As a journalist for more than 20 years, Butler often responded to scenes of deadly car collisions, sometimes arriving before the paramedics. He also covered the G20 protests in Toronto, the devastating southern Ontario tornadoes in 2009, and other traumatic events.

“PTSD is like hanging on to a freight train; you’re clinging for dear life, you’re not in control, and you have no idea where you’re going,” Butler said. He added he hopes if the WSIB recognizes his case, it may make it easier for other journalists to be heard by the board.

Under the WSIB’s operational policy manual, frontline work-related PTSD is primarily recognized for a list of 18 first-responder jobs, including paramedics, firefighters, police officers, as well as communications workers who dispatch those first responders. Journalists are not on that list.

While journalists are not formally recognized as front-line workers at risk of developing PTSD, some argue the role leaves them vulnerable to triggers of stress and trauma, as outlined by the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual.

To be diagnosed with PTSD, the manual states a person has to be exposed to death, death threats, serious injury or sexual violence either by experiencing this trauma directly or bearing witness. Repeated exposure to trauma is also part of the criteria for diagnosis. Exposure through electronic media or visuals is usually excluded from the criteria — unless it is work-related.

The link between PTSD and journalism has been studied by Dr. Anthony Feinstein, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and neuropsychiatrist in Sunnybrook’s Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program. Feinstein first looked at trauma in war correspondents more than two decades ago. Through interviews with war reporters, I have found they tended to have higher symptoms of PTSD, depression and anxiety.

Feinstein said reporters closer to home could also suffer psychological harm from covering stories like “pandemic coverage, the recent attack on a Muslim family in London, Ont., the discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children who were part of Canada’s residential school system, the George Floyd murder, mass shooting and attacks on Asian Canadians and Americans, and others.”

“These events can also undermine a journalist’s emotional wellbeing,” Feinstein said. in a June 2021 interview.

The “Taking Care” study, of which Feinstein served as a supervisor, found 27 per cent of Canadian journalists surveyed have been diagnosed with anxiety, 20 per cent with depression and 7.5 per cent with PTSD. Around 85 per cent of those surveyed said they were negatively affected after covering stories on crimes against children, sexual assault and other types of human suffering.

The report signals there has been a lack of recognition of mental health issues in the field, and therefore a reluctance by many to come forward due to stigma.

As Butler heads into his appeal with the WSIB, likely to be scheduled later this summer, there are few legal precedents for cases on PTSD and journalism in the Canada. In Australia, however, a newspaper was ordered to pay its former crime reporter $180,000 in damages for PTSD suffered on the job, in what’s been described as a landmark ruling.

Asked to comment, Christine Arnott, spokesperson for the WSIB, said the board considers all facts and circumstances surrounding a claim to determine if an employee is entitled to compensation for time off work or treatment for an injury sustained at work. But “extending the PTSD presumption to other occupations” is a decision only Ontario’s Ministry of Labor can make.

Butler is now on a return-to-work plan, working four times a week. He still avoids assignments that heavily involve trauma. He’s also in treatment for his PTSD.

He maintains his love for journalism. And by speaking out about his trauma, Butler said he hopes reporters and industry leaders can recognize the hazardous nature of the work, to spread awareness and protect themselves and their employees.

“There were signs along the way,” Butler said of his PTSD, but he wasn’t able to recognize them until much later.

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