Potential Benefits of Teaching Mindfulness to Journalism Students

Abstract

Mindfulness can be defined and adopted in many ways, from the simple act of being more thoughtful through to the use of mindfulness-based meditation for a range of purposes and ultimately through to the application of mindfulness-based frameworks such as ‘mindful journalism’ to help navigate ethical dilemmas and avoid moral injury. Each has potential application in journalism education. This article outlines the basic principles and explains the likely benefits for participants in journalism learning, teaching and research, detailing some of the key research underpinning the field and offering some examples of its application. The principal argument is that instruction in mindfulness-based meditation—and in the expanded approach of mindful journalism—has the potential to strengthen journalism graduates’ resilience, deepen their learning and shore up their moral compasses as they enter an occupation where their reporting can expose them to trauma and the upheaval in the industry can subject them to stress, burnout and other mental health challenges.