Prioritizing people, well-being and resilience in journalism with API’s Samantha Ragland

Local News Matters

Samantha Ragland, vice president of journalism programs at the American Press Institute, shares practical strategies for fostering mental health and well-being in newsrooms. She highlights how prioritizing people can lead to exceptional journalism and stronger newsroom culture.

Ragland explores the balance between leadership and care, offering insights on building psychological safety, managing workloads, and fostering resilience. She also emphasizes the importance of addressing unique challenges faced by journalists of color and women, providing actionable steps for newsroom leaders to support diverse teams effectively.

From rethinking urgency to embracing creativity in leadership, Ragland illustrates how newsrooms of all sizes can thrive by building connections and redefining success. Her compelling stories and candid reflections make this a must-listen for anyone invested in the future of local journalism.

Episode chapters:

(00:03:51) - Sustainability from both the people and the business perspective

(00:08:26) - Start by prioritizing the people in your organization

(00:17:31) - Moving from hero to host to get things off your plate

(00:23:36) - Delegating, stopping tasks, and managing workload

(00:28:51) - Developing early career journalists

(00:36:07) - Re-examine story requirements, enlist technology and partners and stop multitasking

(00:43:23) - Manage the sense of urgency in the newsroom, take a break and set boundaries

(00:51:36) - Manage your story and sentiment mix

(00:59:18) - Authentic leadership and managing journalists of color

(01:24:09) - Rapid-fire questions

(01:31:05) - Media and local recommendations

Links:

• Show notes

• Samantha Ragland: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram

• American Press Institute

• Mentioned

• First episode on burnout with RJI

• Poynter Institute

• Leadership Academy for Women in Media

• Michael Bolden (LNM episode)

• World Mental Health Day

• Mental Health in Journalism Summit by The Self-Investigation

• Palm Beach Post

• National Equity Project

• Elements of Style by Strunk and White

• On Writing Well by William Zinsser

• Deep Work by Cal Newport

• A World Without Email by Cal Newport

• Slow Productivity by Cal Newport

• Local recommendations

• Palm Beach Clock Tower

• Havana (restaurant)

• Loggerhead Marinelife Center

• Paddleboarding/kayaking in intracoastal areas

• Tacos

• Media recommendations

• Crash Landing on You (Netflix) and other Korean dramas

• What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey

• Buffalo Dance by Frank X Walker

• Local News Matters: web, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

• Colorado Press Association: web, Twitter, Facebook

• Tim Regan-Porter: bio, Twitter

For show notes, transcripts, newsletter sign-up and past guests on the Local News Matters podcast, please visit localnewsmatterspodcast.com or lnmpod.com.

Past guests on the Local News Matters podcast include: Randy Picht and Andrew Finlayson (RJI Burnout Report), Laura Frank (COLab), Jennifer Larino (Lede New Orleans), Katherine Ann Rowlands (Bay City News), Jim O’Rourke (O’Rourke Media Group), Teri Finneman, Nick Mathews and Pat Ferrucci (Reviving Local News), Nic Dawes (THE CITY), Allison Taylor Levine (Local News Initiative Delaware), Crystal Good (Black by God), Lisa Snowden (Baltimore Beat), Karen Rundlet (INN), Jim Brady (Knight Foundation), Candice Fortman (Exit interview, Outlier Media), Jean Friedman-Rudovsky (Resolve Philly), Jay Rosen (NYU), Sue Cross (Exit interview, INN), Mary Margaret White (Mississippi Today), Amy Kovac-Ashley (Tiny News Collective), Michael Shapiro (TAPinto), Kenny Katzgrau (redbankgreen and Broadstreet), John Garrett (Community Impact), Shannon Kinney (Dream Local Digital), Larry Ryckman (The Colorado Sun), Frank Mungeam (Local Media Association), Kelly Ann Scott (Alabama Media Group), Sara Lomax and S. Mitra Kalita (URL Media), Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro (National Trust for Local News), Mike Rispoli and Richard Young (via When the People Decide), Sarabeth Berman (American Journalism Project), Rabbi Hillel Goldberg and Shana Goldberg (Intermountain Jewish News), Lyndsay C. Green (via The Journalism Salute), Rashad Mahmood and Mark Glaser (New Mexico Local News Fund), Christian Vanek and Barbara Hardt (The Mountain-Ear), Dan Grech (BizHack), Zack Richner (Easy Tax Credits), Tracie Powell (Pivot Fund), Dan Oshinsky (Inbox Collective), Linda Shapley (via What Works), Yehong Zhu and Jake Seaton (Zette, Column), Charity Huff (January Spring), Joaquin Alvarado and Dave Perry (Aurora Sentinel), Steve Waldman (Rebuild Local News), Maritza Félix (Conecta Arizona), Michael Bolden (American Press Institute), Jeff Roberts and Corey Hutchins (CFOIC, Colorado College), Eve Pearlman and Erica Anderson (Spaceship Media), Jennifer Brandel (Hearken, Democracy SOS), Corey Hutchins with Bay Edwards, Todd Chamberlain and Raleigh Burleigh (Sopris Sun).