Promotional Information

War journalists, like all who have prolonged exposure to violence, come home emotionally maimed and often broken. And yet, a news culture in denial has pretended that war journalists are immune from trauma. This fit into the macho culture of war journalism. It also assuaged the consciences of those running news organizations, who often crumple up and discard, years later, those they send to war. Dr. Feinstein has provided us with research that is a chilling reminder that war journalists are human, as well as a searing indictment of major news conglomerates who have refused to acknowledge or address the suffering of their own. -- Chris Hedges, former New York Times war correspondent and author of War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning

Table of Contents

Foreword, by Chris Hedges
Acknowledgments
1. A Hazardous Profession
2. Danger's Troubled Legacy: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
3. Why Take the Risks?
4. Depression, Drink, and Drugs
5. Freelance War Journalists
6. War, Women, Wives, and Widows
7. Domestic Journalists and Urban Terror: The Aftermath of September 11
8. The Iraq War: In Bed with the Military
Afterword
Suggested Reading
Index

About the Author

Anthony Feinstein is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a Guggenheim Fellow.

Reviews

[A] singular feat. -- Carlin Romano Philadelphia Inquirer Any college-level collection strong in journalism must have Journalists under Fire. California Bookwatch Feinstein's eye-opener should be compulsory reading for all news managers, for whom 'dramatic war footage will always prove irresistible.' The Australian Feinstein is a consummate researcher with an insightful and beautifully poetic writing style... As soon as I finished reading this book, I wanted to start all over again. -- Rick Hughes Counselling at Work Journalists Under Fire is not a textbook of post-traumatic stress disorder or psychological trauma; rather it puts flesh on the bones of the sanitised, sterile descriptions of psychopathology in the academic literature... sometimes disturbing and upsetting but always compelling. -- Martin Deahl British Journal of Psychiatry Blending fact, interpretation, and fierce poignancy, this first-rate, readable book is a scholarly triumph. Choice Feinstein captures an intimate view of this tight-knit community and encourages a deeper appreciation for the reality of war journalism-and its accompanying emotional fallout. Journal of Peace Research