The Scope of Technostress and Care of The Self on Journalists During the Pandemic

Abstract

In the last two decades, there is an increasingly broad line of studies that warn about the emotional health of journalists and the challenges that it poses for communication professionals to be able to separate work issues from their personal lives. The coverage of COVID-19 exposed many journalists to situations of frustration, discomfort and stress for various reasons: long working hours, not having the appropriate technological material, added to an environment of uncertainty caused by the pandemic. This study aims to examine the possible scope of technostress –in some cases associated to digital divide– in journalists and analyze if they are aware of the uses of care of the self as a way to deal with stressful situations. For this, our research is based on documentary analysis, a survey answered by (50) fifty Argentinean journalists, and twelve (12) in-depth interviews to experienced journalists. Our findings suggest that constant exposure to computers and smartphones during the lockdown together with difficulties to connect to Internet or to have the adequate materials and the lack of coping strategies –as the care of the self– confirms the presence of technostress. Another result that emerges from this research, it should be addressed in future studies, is that some journalists’ reactions about care of the self could respond to the third person effect theory to maintain high self-esteem and not demonstrate vulnerability.