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Fighting The Stress Of COVID-19 News

You can listen to this interview in its entirety here:

Lori Walsh: Doctors and first responders are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Journalists are also on those front lines and saturated in news coverage. As the coronavirus story unfolds, this saturation includes a fast-paced cycle of breaking news, uncertainty, and up-to-the-minute fact checking. Al Tompkins is one of America's most requested broadcast journalism and multimedia teachers and coaches. After nearly 30 years working as a reporter, photo journalist, producer, investigative reporter, head of special investigations and news director, Tompkins joined the Poynter Institute where he is senior faculty for broadcast and online. And he's joining us today with thoughts on how journalists can fight the stress of coronavirus coverage. And this advice might just be relevant for anyone else who is obsessing over all that breaking news. Al Tompkins, welcome. Thank you for being here with us, we appreciate your time.

Al Tompkins: Hi my friend.

Lori Walsh: You are a voice of reason for so many of us who are just inundated with this. For people who aren't journalists and have never worked in a newsroom, give us a peek behind the scenes. We have a two-hour show here and the most frantic part of the day is not the two-hour show, it's the meetings going up to it and then immediately when you're off the air. That's a pretty common story, tell people a little bit about that please.

Al Tompkins: Well, a lot of what's going on right now are things that we've never seen before. We've never seen newsrooms do what they've been doing for the last two weeks. Typically, as you know, everybody is in the station doing what they do. So producers are in the booth and directors are in the control room and reporters are out in the field doing what they do and so on. Some of the most extreme cases I've seen so far are anchors, for example, who are anchoring from their basements or living rooms, anchoring whole newscasts from their radio, TV, that's not unusual. I never thought I would see the day when a television newscast producer could actually produce from home, but that's happening routinely all over the country, probably all over the world. I've seen it happen. In fact, I've even got photos today on the Poynter website, on the column that I write every day, of people in their workplaces sitting on their floor with their dogs writing newscasts.

Lori Walsh: Children hanging off their backs as they try to.

Al Tompkins: Yeah, exactly, yes. Being interrupted by their cat. One of the things that has been really tough, and I think this is going to become not just tough but problematic soon, and that is that reporters are increasingly having problems getting to original sources of information.

So city councils, for example, and so on are closing down meetings. In some cases reporters are just not able to get their eyes on the stories that they're covering, and so they're having to rely on phone conversations or Zoom conversations or whatever. We're going to pay a price for that inaccuracy and accountability and openness. It's going to be harder to pry open meetings once they have systematically closed like this. I'm worried about those things, not as worried as I am about the virus, but those are things for us to pay attention to. Your listeners should know that reporters, both locally and nationally, internationally often now are reporting from home, they're anchoring from home. It doesn't sound much different because they're talking into pillows or set up their own audio booths at home. But that is happening.

Lori Walsh: Our governor told us today, mentioned in a press conference that at some point we're not going to be able to communicate with you all the data that we have about some of these early cases. So early on reporters are getting information about there is a case that's in this county and we know it's travel related, and she just said at some point we're going to update the website but we can't keep up with the stream of data as more and more people get tested. So even the information that's being released. And so much of this Al has been a data story where we're looking at potential, flattening the curve and all this stuff, but we don't have the data. Maybe we never did have the data.

So how do you balance as a reporter, that notion of like this is a numbers story, how many hospital beds do you have, how can your capacity surge? Is it a data story anymore? How do you balance that?

Al Tompkins: Well early on, obviously the data story was really important because we were able to see the multiplication of cases. The World Health Organization released some data early that from the first 100,000 to the second 200,000, so in increments of 100,000, it took 11 days to get from a 100,000 to 200,000 cases. Took four days to get from 200,000 to 300,000. and we can see that number multiply. We've been saying this for months, that this is exactly how it's going to happen and guess what? It's exactly how it's happening. I think you can assume that you're just going to keep seeing more and more and more cases as you get more and more tests out there. And as health authorities have said many times, it's not necessarily that we have so many more sick people, it's just that we're identifying people who actually are sick. So it's important for us to understand there are already a lot of people in South Dakota right now that are sick that you just don't have a number for. So according to health authorities, we ought to act as if we have many multiple times more cases than you have because you do.

The other big surprise, and this is an important thing that data has pushed us toward besides the capacity issue that you raised, the capacity in hospitals for example. The other big data story has been the surprise in the number of younger people who have tested positive because that's not necessarily what has happened globally. But we also have to remember a few things. One, globally, they didn't necessarily test younger people. Particularly in China, they were looking for the older populations that they knew would be more vulnerable. They didn't see the point in testing young people because they were largely asymptomatic or symptomatic in a relatively minor way compared to seniors. But what we know now is because we have so many younger cases that those people are out passing this around and it becomes even more important to get everybody home and not passing it around. Just because you don't feel bad doesn't mean you're not a problem.`

Those are data stories for sure. Look sometime six months from now we're going to be using data to figure out what happened, what didn't happen and so on. I'm pushing journalists right now to not look so much at what's broken, but instead, how can we help what. What's needed? We know there are a lot of broken supply systems and we know that so far people are not staying home. They're not taking this as seriously as they could or should and because of that, this is just going to get progressively worse, much faster if we don't lock down.

Lori Walsh: What kind of stories do we need today? When you say don't look at what's broken, look at what's needed. What do you mean? Elaborate on that.

Al Tompkins: Well, what can you be doing right now? Well, you can be checking on your neighbors. In rural areas for example, it's an isolated life. It's even more isolated when you intentionally are not showing up in front of your friends. I don't know about you, but I grew up in rural Kentucky and I can tell you that Sunday mornings was the time when you knew where everybody was. You found out if somebody was sick. Well, if you're not getting together on Sunday mornings, are you actually reaching out to those people? I'm particularly worried about senior citizens who obviously are worried about so many things, finances, not the least of them, but now also separation anxiety. A lot of people rightfully are worried about their jobs. So is there that we can be doing right now to help people in those ways.

Particularly in small South Dakota towns for example, supporting local retailers in any way that you can, including buying gift cards that wherever you get your haircut and things like that. Is there something you can do? Little as it may seem, the cumulative effect may not be little at all. So we've got to start looking at these kinds of things. Well I saw a television station here in Tampa Bay where I am today, did a story on quit flushing those alleged flushable wipes. It turns out that these plumbing companies are getting called all the time for backed up water and sewer because people are flushing these alleged flushable wipes and they shouldn't be flushed. And it sounds stupid. It sounds so small and it's not small. You start backing up your water and sewer and that's going to be a real problem.

So find these kinds of little things that we all can do and pay attention to those. I don't know about where you are, here in Florida, partly because we have so many seniors, we ran out of hand sanitizer weeks ago.

I made a couple of gallons of hand sanitizer and passed them out to senior citizens in our neighborhood. And those are the kinds of things, if you look around, you probably have rubbing alcohol. It seems like everybody does something. You might have some aloe vera sunburn lotion or something like that. It's pretty simple to make your own. It's three parts to one part. Three parts alcohol to one part aloe. And you can make your own hand sanitizer. Make sure it's 61% rubbing alcohol or higher.

But those are relatively simple things that you can do. And I heard Jo-Ann's fabric company, the selling store, started supplying supplies for people to make masks, to donate and instructions online, including patterns and so on. And so sewing circles all over the place. There's a web app called Next Door. There's sewing circles in my neighborhood of people who have sewing machines and fabric and they're following the instructions to make masks. They're not medical masks, but for people who are sick or people who need some kind of protection, it's better than nothing as they say. It gives you something to do and frankly at some point we all need something to do. I mean we can't just sit around and be victimized, right?

We need something to do and we need to helping each other.

Lori Walsh: Talk to me a little bit about, for journalists especially and for other people I think are really in the same spot where it's journalists have to look at, in order to have these conversations, I have to know everything that I can possibly know before I turn on the microphone. So I am watching and reading and clicking on and studying and listening to press conferences all day long. And a lot of other people are doing that too, just because they want the information and there's so much being pumped into the stream right now. Talk a little bit about sleep and stepping away from those things. And having having an empathetic response to that kind of suffering which we're seeing, and that soon we'll see in our own neighborhoods.

Al Tompkins: That's right. So two parts to your question. My wife, who is a psychotherapist of 40 something years clinical experience, and I do a lot of teaching. In fact we're going to be doing two sessions later today with a couple of journalism groups. My wife and I often tell journalists, one of the things you've got to do is be at least as nice to yourself as you are to your toaster. I mean, you do turn your toaster off when you're not toasting. But journalists are just horrible at this. You are constantly taking in information and in times like this, so are your listeners. They are constantly feeding and at some point it's just not healthy. You've got to start ramping down. I'm not saying be uninformed or completely unplugged. Not at all. Just be more healthy. The fact of the matter is, we kind of know how this is going to go.

Day-to-day-to-day, there's not that much change except for the change we already anticipated. So a steady, nonstop diet of dreary news is not very helpful to you. So rely on reliable sources of information like you guys at NPR, and be satisfied that you're as up to date as you need to be. Read a good newspaper, watch a good newscast and at some point be satisfied that you know what you need to know today and you'll be back tomorrow to update yourself. But you can't make it the last thing that you watch before you go to bed or the last thing you listen to or read before you go to bed. You can't check your emails and your newsfeeds in the middle of the night and expect to get restful sleep. You you just can't. And I know, look, I'm the worst at this. I'm telling you what I know to be true and I don't do it very well myself, but I know better. And we've got to start leading healthier lifestyles to that effect. We can't just keep inundating ourselves with bad news because it doesn't help us. If it helped us, that'd be different, right?

But you already know what to do. Disconnect from other people and support your neighbors and we already know what to do. Just do that.

Lori Walsh: Here's a question I promised that I would ask someone, and it occurs to me now that you might be that guy. But some of these people who are spokespeople right now, broadcast journalists and a lot of people who are just talking more than they ever had to talk before, are all losing their voices. What are some good broadcast tips for how to keep your voice in good shape when all of a sudden you're on Zoom and you're having to speak to your employees or you're the hospital spokesperson and you're at that press conference every day?

Al Tompkins: Well, the fact of the matter is we're not surrounded by coworkers the way we used to. So we probably don't need to be talking like that so much. But when you're not speaking in a speechifying sort of voice, you're not usually straining your voice. So as a reporter for example, I'm not really using my voice more than I normally would. But if I were making speeches, if I were teaching in a classroom, as I often do, it is a strain of your voice because you're emoting louder. But do all the normal things that you would do, right? Drink clear warm liquids, be quiet when you can and keep down as we always say for voice care in broadcasting. Don't eat cheese and don't drink milk before you go on the air and watch caffeine, clear tea, warm tea, like that is good.

But it's also, during this virus season, those things are also very good tips for everybody, warm, clear liquids help to clear and soothe your breathing and your throat. So those are all normal things. Just avoid all the crazy stuff, right? Don't go for crazy herbal medications and all kinds of stuff. Just use your common sense. I mean, people in South Dakota have been through a lot over the centuries, right?

You're survivors and you know how to do this. So avoid the crazies. We're going to get through this. It's not going to be easy, but you know how to do this. You know how to get through snow storms and all kinds of stuff that most people don't know how to do.

Lori Walsh: For reporters who are really being asked to make decisions about staying home with family who are stressed out and having hard times and showing up for work, whether you're putting yourself in harm's way because you're having to go out into the field and cover stories. Clearly people are using different practices than they ever did before. But just the idea of feeling torn between doing the job that needs to be done and caring for the people in your personal life. Would you talk for a minute, Al, about mission and the importance and how to make some of those tough decisions about, honey, I got to go to work now because this is my job and I need to do this for my community.

Al Tompkins: I think it might be hard for the public to understand that the best journalists are in fact quite committed to their local communities. I had the luxury last year of teaching at the South Dakota Broadcasters Association. I met a lot of your colleagues in the field and a lot of them chose to stay right there because that is their home and it is their community and those are the people they serve. And so it's important for you to understand that they see their community as a very high priority in their life and they feel a need and an obligation to do it. It's not just a business. It is actually a vocation of choice. And for some people they consider it a calling, I would guess. So you have a drive, a certain drive, as EMTs, as doctors, as store clerk says, other people who are doing this work right now, it's not just a paycheck that you're after. It's actually because you consider it to be an important function and it's part of your public service as part of who you are.

So yeah, you've got to balance at some level, your public role and your private role. Look, there are lots of ways for us to get news and information, even important information. We can pull it from a pool where we're not there, but we're taking a feed from the government. We can do that. We can lessen the likelihood of exposure that way. There's a cost for that, for not being physically there, but it may be that we have to weigh the cost of physically being there, the risk of physically being there and not being there. So it's hard for you to explain to the public sometimes why you do what you do. Why do you put yourself in danger? Why do you, during bad weather, still go to work? Why do you go to scenes where some tragic thing is going on? Well, because you need to be there with your own eyes to see what happened. And we need journalists. At times like this we need journalists to press for information and to try to verify what the public officials are telling us.

Lori Walsh: One more question. And that's about compartmentalizing because many journalists will be doing their job as things are happening in their personal lives.

Al Tompkins: That's right.

Lori Walsh: I know one of my friends died yesterday, my brother went in the hospital this morning and my sister's calling me right now and I can't answer the phone. So you have these moments where you don't know what's happening in your family life. You are at work. How do you compartmentalize those things to continue to do their job? And when do you open that box and say it's time to face this so I don't have trouble down the road?

Al Tompkins: Well, my advice to journalists when I talk to journalists, but it would be the same if it was anybody else. And that is you have to take care of those who are closest and most dependent on you. And in most news organizations and most businesses, we can trust our colleagues to fill in when we can't and we'll be available when we can be. But families need us and loved ones need us. And I'm so sorry to hear your family's news, but we're going to see these stories play out and it's going to happen a lot and we're going to have to take care of our families first and then our community. And trust our colleagues to be able to fill in for us when we're not there. And we'll fill in for them when they can't be there. And that's the way this works. That's the way it's always worked.

And so we have to look after each other. And it may be that you have to find allies and friends and backups that you've never turned to before. But that's the positive that comes out of this kind of a thing, and we saw this many times after 9/11 for example, we saw that we in fact can rely on our neighbors and we can rely on our colleagues and we can rely on each other to help us along when times get bad. I was talking with a journalist just yesterday from California and I'll leave you with this story. They said I don't understand this, this idea that in a time like this people run out and buy guns and ammo because what Americans do is the opposite of that. The statistical evidence is true that what we don't do is shoot each other. What we do is support each other in times of need. And this is true through many catastrophes in the United States. We sort of predict the worst and are surprised that we don't go to the worst as Americans, we go to the best. And the best is ahead of us, but it's going to be you relying on me and me relying on you.

Lori Walsh: I love that. Al Tompkins, Poynter Institute senior faculty for broadcast and online. Al, I'll thank you so much for your time today. We're going to put links up on our website for other journalists who haven't found this content about your daily newsletter and things like that as we go forward together. Thanks Al.

Al Tompkins: Bless you my friend, and bless your listeners. We'll get through this.

You can access all of SDPB's COVID-19 coverage at www.sdpb.org/covid

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