Journalists on Self-Care & Political Reporting Right Now

In the past few months, we’ve seen a new administration descend upon Washington, D.C.—including a POTUS who updates his social media round-the-clock. Coping with a 24-hour news cycle is nothing new for journalists, but an ever-tweeting commander-in-chief + a divided America + an army of faceless internet trolls can take a toll on even the stoniest reporter.

So we asked a handful of journalists who are active on Twitter how they self-soothe after a hard day’s (or night’s) work. While a stiff drink does the trick for some, a surprising number of people mentioned Keeping Up with the Kardashians as a coping mechanism.

No matter your daily grind, read on for creative takes on self-care during trying times.

Self Care Journalists

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Daniel Dale

“I don’t drink, so I am not drowning sorrows. I also find the beat fascinating, fun, and a privilege. I never feel hopeless! Even when something absurd is happening, it’s cool to be able to contribute to the debate in some way, add context or nuance or facts, rather than just watch from afar.

I have done three things to make it a little less crazy. One is setting my Outlook to auto-trash emails from the bigots and trolls who email me all the time. There’s just no reason to even see their names. Two is trying not to check Twitter mentions late at night before bed—escaping the yelling people for a bit. And the third, my favourite, is sending an animated GIF of NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” video to trolls before blocking them. It’s an inexplicable amount of fun for me.”

Follow Daniel on Twitter: @ddale8

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Daniel Dale

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