IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v14y2026a12365.html

Resilience as a Structural Condition: Mental Health and Safety Challenges in Watchdog Science Journalism

Author

Listed:
  • Oana Ometa

    (Department of Journalism and Digital Media, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania)

Abstract

This article examines resilience and mental health as structural conditions shaping journalists’ ability to perform a watchdog role in science-related domains. Based on 12 semi-structured interviews with Romanian investigative journalists, the study shows that watchdog science journalism operates in a fragile environment marked by institutional obstruction, financial precarity, harassment, and emotional strain. These pressures are particularly visible in investigations involving public health, environmental issues, and academic integrity, where journalists must deal with restricted access to information, expert authority, and public hostility. Participants describe burnout, anxiety, moral distress, and difficulties in sustaining long-term investigations without institutional support. Although they rely on coping strategies such as therapy, peer support, digital security practices, and professional networks, these mechanisms offer only partial protection. The article argues that resilience should not be understood only as an individual capacity, but as a structural requirement for sustaining watchdog science journalism. Understanding the conditions that undermine journalists’ mental health, safety, and autonomy is essential for assessing the democratic value of their watchdog function.

Suggested Citation

  • Oana Ometa, 2026. "Resilience as a Structural Condition: Mental Health and Safety Challenges in Watchdog Science Journalism," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 14.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v14:y:2026:a:12365
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.12365
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/12365
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/mac.12365?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v14:y:2026:a:12365. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.