October 19, 2025
Updated: Oct. 16, 2025
Surveyed Instructors and Students Say Journalism Safety Training is Important
By Jennifer Castillo Cortes
Center for Ethical Leadership in Media
A national survey conducted by the Center for Ethical Leadership in Media at the University of Texas at Austin, in partnership with the James Foley Foundation, found that journalism instructors overwhelmingly believe that safety training will make students better journalists. But they were split on whether students are well prepared for the safety risks associated with reporting.
The survey, conducted in Spring 2025, garnered responses from journalism instructors, advisers and staff as well as undergraduate students at nearly 75 universities. Almost all of the 111 instructors who participated strongly agreed that safety training in higher education prepares students for the risks and demands of reporting. While 37 agreed that students were being prepared for risks, 53 disagreed and 18 were neutral.
The majority of instructors say they teach safety to their students but not as part of a required curriculum. Most of the 42 student respondents agreed with the importance of safety training but weren’t sure where to get it. As one put it, “I ask about safety regarding the journalism field, especially mental health safety, I feel like many journalists just end up sighing.”
Center Director Kathleen McElroy, said the results confirm that there’s a need for safety training in journalism programs. “We have to address safety as part of a journalist toolkit that is taught in our schools,” she said.
Recent years have shown that journalists are increasingly becoming targets for online harassment and physical safety. According to the Pew Research Center in 2022, about 40% of journalists were impacted by job-related harassment by someone outside their workplace. A study conducted by Kathleen Culver and Jason Shepard found that student journalists are equally subject to harassment as professional journalists.
Students who completed the Center’s survey commented that they are aware of the safety issues. “Journalists struggle with trauma/PTSD and how/if they get support from their organization, platform, or newspaper/magazine that they work for,” said one student.
Previous research from Ball State University shared that journalists who cover traumatic events like protests are likely to develop PTSD. When students receive safety training, they are better equipped to report in dangerous situations and protect their online privacy, according to Arden and Reynolds. They also found that student journalists are exposed to reporting early in their education.
The Center’s survey also found that instructors teach safety in skills and conceptual courses, and participate in discussions at student news organizations. These topics include teaching journalists’ rights, creating ethical newsrooms, and digital harassment.
“Most of this training has taken place at the student newspaper, given by fellow student journalists. Our faculty advisor has also helped us with this,” said one student in the survey.
Students also said they participate in conversations about understanding journalists’ rights, covering protests, and creating ethical newsrooms. They also offered suggestions for other topics to include in safety training.
“I would like to learn more about physical safety while covering events like protests, political news that could put me at risk, etc.,” one wrote. “While we have discussed it, I think learning more about the trauma that comes with being a journalist is important.”
More than half of the instructors said they discussed covering protests and civil unrest with their students. Both instructors and students said that events such as campus protests somewhat impacted their views on journalists’ safety.
Executive Director Tom Durkin said the Foley Foundation was “grateful to UT-Austin for leading this survey as we think about ways to ensure emerging journalists are provided with the tools needed to mitigate risk as they learn their craft.”
McElroy, the Center director, added that the survey is just a start. “The question is: what’s the best way for us educators to get these tools to our students?”
Jennifer Castillo Cortes is a PhD student in the School of Journalism and Media and a Graduate Research Assistant for the Center of Ethical Leadership in Media. Her research focuses on the role of bilingual newsrooms in the United States.