Donate to the Black Journalists’ Therapy Fund, which provides financial assistance to black journalists for mental health support.
Journalists put up with a lot of bullshit in the course of their work. Black journalists endure exponentially more bullshit than most.
Reporting on the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others can be traumatizing. It takes a toll.
And even now, newsrooms are overwhelmingly white. Fighting to tell stories that need to be told–spending workplace capital to argue the case to white editors, publishers, and owners who just don’t get it–that takes a toll, too.
Only famous journalists get paid well. Rank-and-filers get paid next to nothing. Even if the publication provides health insurance to its staffers, mental health coverage usually isn’t included, or comes with co-pays that makes therapy essentially unaffordable.
Enter the Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund, a GoFundMe launched by Sonia Weiser on May 31, 2020.
It endeavors to provide up to $1,500 to each applicant to cover the costs of therapy.
As of late July 2020, the GoFundMe had raised more than $75,000 of its $100,000 goal.
It has also joined forces with the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) to help underwrite mental health services for black journalists.
The GoFundMe will cover those who don’t qualify for assistance from IWMF.
Donate to the Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/black-journalists-therapy-relief-fund
Apply for financial assistance with mental health needs (assuming you qualify):
Read more about the additional challenges black journalists face (some articles are behind a paywall):
https://www.theroot.com/black-journalists-and-covering-the-storm-that-never-pas-1843756825
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