Accommodating journalists is in — or you’re out

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past year surrounded by cancer patients. Also, being one.

I was at the beginning of my journalism career when a cancer diagnosis knocked me off center. I’m in my early 20s, and none of my ailments are immediately obvious, which is why I’ve been adamant online and in public about sharing my experience.

Even before my diagnosis, I ran the gamut of symptoms that interfered with work: intense headaches, insomnia, wrist issues requiring occupational therapy, memory issues, and other problems. I could never bring myself to say, “Hey, I’m actually in a lot of pain. Can you go easy on me?”

Journalism isn’t in the business of “easy.” If it was, we wouldn’t produce spotless breaking news, policy-changing investigations, and strong relationships with sources. It’s hard to find space for hiccups within that.

That said, it’s not new news that journalism careers can feel unsustainable. People are burning out. Layoffs threaten livelihoods. Younger journalists are turning away from the trade, discouraged by the lack of work-life balance and the rocky media landscape. Online, journalists of color are speaking out about being driven from the industry. According to a Muck Rack survey, more than half of journalists considered quitting in 2024. Heck, I even thought about switching to marketing.

Journalists will push through a lot to get the job done. It’s the kind of people we are, the kind of people the industry attracts. And it can work. But only for so long.

Even in good health, maintaining perfection gets exhausting. We’re human. Add mental health issues, physical pain, caretaking responsibilities, or a combination of the three, and suddenly, a comma doesn’t seem like the most important thing in the world anymore.

As the adage goes, balance is key. Journalistic excellence can exist alongside widening our tolerance for employees who might need a bit more grace. Therein lies the difference between equality and equity: in one, you push blanket standards onto your workforce in the hopes it’ll be enough — enough clicks, enough sources, enough time and energy spent on a project — and in the other you prove you care about your workforce by meeting individual needs where they need to be met.

News isn’t dying, but it is changing. Widening accommodations is the biggest sign of this, whether that means offering work-from-home policies or other flexible arrangements.

Legacy organizations want to fight this change. Organizations that want to make it to the future embrace it. Because the reality is your journalists don’t have to stick around. They can switch beats, outlets, industries. They can go to independent publishing platforms like Substack.

Just as we turn from print to digital journalism, so too can we change our intolerance for so-called “weak” behavior to compassion and understanding. Every journalist has their own aches and pains. A standard for perfection in our work doesn’t need to translate to a standard for perfection in work ethic. Editing in layers exists for a reason. We are each meant to help one another, acting as a check and balance system, rather than penalizing each other for an off-day. No one should be punished for being sick — even if that sickness is not immediately clear.

I could say all sorts of clichés to strengthen my argument, like “You never know what someone is going through” or “Kindness doesn’t cost anything” — but the retort “This is just the way we do it” will always exist. It reminds me of the phrase I heard in college: “There are no accommodations in real life.” But just because that’s how it’s done doesn’t mean it’s right. Also? There are accommodations in real life.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a wondrous thing. If you’re a journalist with a disability, I encourage you to look into it. You have the right to request reasonable accommodations. The law also “restricts questions that can be asked about an applicant’s disability before a job offer is made,” according to the ADA’s website. You can find out more about whether or not you qualify here.

To employers I say, take the extra minute to wonder: What else might this person have going on in their life that’s impacting their performance, and how can I help them? To employees I say: As long as you feel safe, advocate for yourself, hold your overheads to clear communication and take a break when you need to.

Accommodating employees is so in.