“I could have done more”: Vicarious trauma expression and self-attribution among journalists’ social issues reporting

The practitioners of VT and emotional labor

Unlike PTSD, which usually occurs after direct exposure to serious traumatic events and is marked by symptoms like intrusive re-experiencing, avoidance, negative thoughts and feelings, and hyperarousal (Obermaier et al., 2023; Shah et al., 2022; Siddiqua and Iqbal, 2024; Smith et al., 2018), VT appears as a long-lasting psychological injury caused by indirect exposure to others’ traumatic experiences (Kim et al., 2021; McCann and Pearlman, 1990; Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995).

In the 1990s, the concept of vicarious traumatization (also called vicarious trauma, hereafter VT) was introduced in trauma research related to helping professionals. McCann and Pearlman (1990) used constructivist self-development theory (CSDT) to argue that individuals build their understanding of self, others, and the world through cognitive schemas- “the mental frameworks that contain beliefs, assumptions, and expectations about self and the world, through which individuals make sense of their experiences” - and that trauma causes lasting negative effects by disrupting these models. Pearlman and Saakvitne (1995) further organized VT’s three main traits (accumulative, pervasive, and permanent), which show up as ongoing negative changes across five areas: frames of reference, self-efficacy, self-resources, cognitive schemas, and memory systems.

In the context of emotional labor, where practitioners elicit or suppress emotions to maintain specific external emotional displays (Hochschild, 1983; Li et al., 2024), VT can occur simply through empathetic listening and engagement with trauma survivors’ narratives, without direct exposure to trauma (McCann and Pearlman, 1990). It is mainly characterized by disrupted worldview, identity, and sense of meaning; decreased ability to endure intense emotions while keeping a stable sense of self; weakened self-protective judgments and interpersonal connection skills; negative changes in cognitive schemas related to safety, trust, self-esteem, intimacy, and control; and intrusions of traumatic imagery into the memory system (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995, pp. 282–294).

As journalism in the digital age introduces an “emotional turn” (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2020), emotion-driven innovations like immersive reporting increasingly depend on emotionally charged individual narratives to turn complex social issues into personalized emotional experiences that foster close audience connections (Wahl-Jorgensen and Pantti, 2021). When reporting on everyday social issues such as poverty, injustice, and marginalized groups, journalists’ empathetic listening and narrative-building make emotional investment an essential part of news production, with distinct emotional labor traits (Beckett and Deuze, 2016; Huxford and Hopper, 2020). This situation is further intensified in the platform era by what Bossio et al. (2024) call a “paradox of connection.” As a result, beyond war and conflict reporters who face anxiety, depression, and PTSD when covering extreme events (Feinstein et al., 2014; Obermaier et al., 2023; Siddiqua and Iqbal, 2024), journalists covering routine news may also encounter VT risks because of ongoing emotional labor and repeated exposure to distressing interviewee stories (Feinstein et al., 2018; McCaffrey, 2021; Xiong and Liao, 2024).

The emotional labor and trauma of journalists, however, are more complex than those of traditional helping professionals. The “emotional turn” also creates tension between the emotional neutrality historically associated with journalistic objectivity (Newman, 2018; Tuchman, 1972) and the emotional engagement encouraged by digital news innovation (Kotišová, 2019; Pantti and Wahl-Jorgensen, 2021), embedding journalists’ VT formation within a unique professional institutional context. Recent empirical research on non-Western contexts, including Pakistan, Palestine, and Ghana, further confirms that institutional barriers, security agency pressure, professionalism-deviating editorial policies, and inadequate occupational support all exacerbate journalists’ emotional burdens and psychological damage (Adjin-Tettey et al., 2025; Malik, 2025; Shah and Malinowski, 2025). Yet existing research remains limited to Western countries, leaving insufficient exploration of how institutional culture shapes journalists’ emotional labor and VT in non-Western settings.

Emotional labor and VT of journalists in China’s context

In contemporary China, digital platform growth has allowed private media and self-media to enter news production alongside established outlets, making emotional strategies a competitive tool across media types (Chen and Xu, 2021; Zhang and Peng, 2019) and driving a trend toward more personalized, interactive, and emotional reporting (Wang et al., 2018; Yin et al., 2024). Content analyses of both party and commercial media confirm that emotional content now occupies a significant proportion (Li and Ting, 2025), suggesting Chinese journalism exhibits an emotional turn similar to Western countries, forming an important context for Chinese journalists’ emotional labor.

Some studies also highlight differences in how Chinese and Western journalists express emotional labor within China’s unique institutional and cultural environment. For example, Chen and Tian (2024), Liu and Li (2017), and Feng (2013) note that, under the Party’s leadership of the media system, the news media is primarily seen as the “ears, eyes, and tongue” of the Party and government. This requires news reports to foster a positive image of the government, promote mainstream socialist ideology, and ultimately support social stability and harmony. Accordingly, “emotional engagement” is often used as a tool for propaganda mobilization (Zhou, 2024), which places Chinese journalists in more emotionally demanding reporting settings. Other research suggests that, although journalistic professionalism has increasingly been accepted by news media and journalists amid Western influence and the commercialization of Chinese media, traditional Chinese society’s lack of a clear distinction between emotion and reason-along with different views on objectivity and professional news production compared to the West-may lead Chinese journalists to be more emotionally engaged and accepting in their reporting than their Western counterparts (Zhou, 2024). Furthermore, in the platform era, a new group of journalism practitioners has appeared outside the organizational structure control of the Party-led media system, such as private media and self-media journalists. Their news production methods and emotional responses differ due to their distinct professional statuses and qualifications compared to state-owned media journalists led by the Party (Zhang and Ran, 2022).

These unique emotional labor characteristics suggest that Chinese journalists’ occupational trauma develops through mechanisms different from those in the West. Although recent studies highlight that trauma among Chinese journalists tends to appear as personal experiences with less institutional support than Western counterparts (Ji et al., 2025; Xiong and Liao, 2024), existing research still primarily follows mainstream trauma studies by focusing mainly on PTSD during major disaster coverage (Li and Dong, 2013; Lù and Lú, 2014)- overlooking both the more common occupational trauma of everyday social news reporting and the deeper effects of institutional and cultural environments. Since Chinese news production is limited by approval and censorship systems (Tai, 2014; Zhang and Fleming, 2005), with coverage of major events handled by only a few journalists, daily social news reporting becomes the main task for the majority of Chinese journalists (Tong, 2017), and ongoing emotional burdens often originate from this context (Xiong and Liao, 2024). Therefore, research on VT and its formation in Chinese journalists’ daily social news reporting remains limited and needs further investigation.

Institutional culture perspective and attribution analysis

The institutional culture perspective, widely used in occupational trauma research, suggests that individual thoughts and actions are deeply influenced by the symbolic systems and cultural frameworks of institutional environments (Scott, 2013). Formal rules set behavioral boundaries through mandatory constraints, normative forces shape behavioral tendencies and emotional responses through role expectations, and shared cultural values influence thought patterns and self-assessment criteria by offering frameworks of meaning (Hochschild, 1983; Scott, 2013). Studies involving journalists, nurses, and human rights workers (Dubberley et al., 2015; Isobel and Thomas, 2022; Seely, 2019) increasingly confirm that occupational psychological trauma is rooted not only in direct or indirect traumatic exposure but also in everyday systemic institutional environments and industry norms-shifting trauma from a personal pathology to an institutional issue, enhancing both its analysis and mechanistic understanding.

From the institutional-cultural perspective, journalists’ professional practices and emotional expressions are influenced by both institutional norms and cultural habits. External regulatory constraints such as news control, censorship mechanisms, and other formal institutions shape journalists’ professional practices and emotional expressions (Jian and Liu, 2018; Tong, 2017). Meanwhile, culture-shared norms formed through social interaction-deeply influences journalists’ professional practice, core beliefs, self-evaluation criteria, and emotional management (Jian and Liu, 2018; Pantti and Wahl-Jorgensen, 2021). Therefore, VT, as a negative emotional response within professional practice, must be understood within the institutional-cultural context in which journalists operate, especially regarding its modes of expression and mechanisms of formation. This study adopts an institutional-cultural perspective, viewing journalists’ VT not only as a psychological response but also as an emotional phenomenon rooted in specific institutional norms and cultural practices.

Based on this understanding, we analyze the VT of Chinese journalists in their daily social news reporting through a qualitative analysis of 25 published notes covering 29 journalists, exploring both specific manifestations and how they develop. By treating journalists’ notes as trauma narratives, this study pays particular attention to the causal explanations and meaning-making that journalists offer when describing traumatic experiences-what they blame for the trauma and how they interpret its causes-an approach often used in trauma psychology (Gray et al., 2003; Stratton et al., 1988; Munton et al., 1999). These causal explanations are not just reflections of individual thoughts but also representations of institutional discipline and cultural internalization. Therefore, clarifying how journalists attribute VT through close reading and thematic analysis can effectively illuminate the mechanisms behind the development of this trauma.

The emergence of VT under dual professional norms

In the framework of VT theory, VT occurs when practitioners empathetically engage with their clients’ trauma material during emotional labor (McCann and Pearlman, 1990; Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995). From the notes, we also find that for Chinese journalists, VT triggered by this empathetic engagement is closely linked to their positioning within a dual system of professional norms. These journalists adhere to and comply with reporting requirements that prioritize positive publicity orientation under the Party-led media system, while also meeting expectations for roles that pursue journalistic professionalism, prioritizing critical supervision, public service and in-depth engagement with social issues (e.g., Notes 8, 10, 13, 19). In this context, when journalists are driven by empathy and professionalism during emotional engagement but find themselves unable to express and achieve their professional goals in line with their true feelings, the difficulty in detaching from the suffering of interviewees and continuous reevaluation of the meaning of their profession begin to appear- VT thus emerges.

Huang He, a senior reporter at Southern Weekend, illustrates this process while tracking the “Bao-Vanke” battle. ¹ After a year of witnessing small investors’ suffering, Huang shifted from bystander to participant, “defending Vanke” after recognizing Baoneng’s actions as potentially harmful to retail investors’ interests through what he perceived as financial fraud and rule violations (Note 10). This transformation was fueled by long-accumulated empathy regarding how “insiders” exploit ordinary investors-an “accumulation that leads to an explosion” (Note 10). Yet, this explosion became entangled within dual professional norms: party media norms allowed emotional narratives about individuals but required reports to channel emotions toward constructive ends - reflecting the principle that journalism should guide public sentiment toward stability and social cohesion rather than amplify collective distress, leaving him to internalize the emotional residue privately - while his professional commitment drove him to report with directness and depth. This conflict left clear VT marks; he admitted his writing “lost its balance” and concluded that news is essentially an “art of regret” (Note 10). These clashing norms left his empathy without an outlet, manifesting as internalized helplessness-the initial emotional level of VT (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995).

In contrast, Liu Mumu of HongXing News highlights the issue’s 20-year accumulation. He believes “speaking for vulnerable groups is the duty of media”, aiming to “hit the bullseye” of social issues (Note 8). However, the norm of positive publicity oriented his reporting toward constructive framing, shaping not what was true but how truth was presented-leaving less room for the more distressing dimensions of his observations. Invoking the “Fourth Estate” ² ideal while bearing emotional burdens alone, he eventually redefined journalism as “just a job” (Note 8), reflecting damage to VT’s reference framework where professional expectations erode under long-term helplessness.

This conflict also persists within freelance communities. Yao Jiayi discovered that even after leaving institutional media, certain topics or angles were avoided through “painful self-discipline” (Note 19). The norm of positive publicity had been internalized as a default assumption, creating a filter of possibilities before a topic was even considered. Here, the conflict is no longer external revision, but self-assessment before empathy emerges-a covert and unavoidable psychological constraint.

It is therefore clear that emotional conflicts and professional helplessness caused by dual norms act as common triggers for the development of VT among Chinese journalists, as shown in their stories about news norms.

The disclosure and concealment of VT under regulatory rigidity

If the conflict between dual norms triggers the emergence of VT, then China’s news regulations limit how trauma experiences are expressed. Journalists’ notes show that, due to current news regulations and rules like news check, interview approvals, and reporting limits, Chinese journalists’ expression of VT splits into two seemingly opposite but actually linked paths: Disclosure, which involves openly acknowledging trauma and showing some resistance under regulation; and Concealment, which involves withdrawing or escaping to avoid risk.

Journalists often attempt to process trauma through limited resistance, only to have their professional sense of purpose eroded by systemic obstructions. Reporting on a minor’s drowning, Hao Ying found her empathy stifled by a senior’s comment: “Now there is indeed very little that journalists can do; in the past, we could engage more directly with governance issues, but now the space for this has narrowed” (Note 11). This realization led her to confess, “I am very aware that our reporting doesn’t have any effect” (Note 11). Similarly, Chen Jing described her work as “iceberg-style pieces” (Note 20), where published content could only partially convey the weight of what she had witnessed. Despite claiming that “recording itself is meaningful” (Note 20), these experiences underscore a profound, ongoing trauma of professional disillusionment.

When journalists can no longer bear the emotional burden of their work, they often retreat into a state of concealment. Hao Ying practiced active disconnection by telling herself to “not ascribe meaning to your work,” reasoning that “in fact, you can’t help anyone; thinking this way might prevent you from being so disappointed in yourself” (Note 11)- a move reflecting a decline in “self capacities” in VT theory (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995). For others like Yao Jiayi, whose work felt “increasingly like a ‘little more than a telephone helpline’” (Note 19), unable to foster “the elevation of public consciousness and social progress” (Note 19), physical withdrawal became the only choice. Leaving, however, failed to resolve the trauma, as she realized “what limits the choice of topics is not the institution” (Note 19) but the broader regulatory environment. This produces a “knot and loss” (Note 19), where the denial of professional identity leads to a collapse of core beliefs. This deep negative shift in cognitive schemas-questioning whether the profession is worth continuing-is precisely what distinguishes VT from ordinary occupational burnout (McCann and Pearlman, 1990; Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995, p. 282).

Although previous literature often suggests significant differences in expressive spaces among journalists from different media types (Ding, 2015), this study finds that under evolving news regulations (Tong, 2017), non-state-owned media cannot serve as a refuge from institutional constraints. Whether state-owned media journalists seek “downgraded expression” in available reporting spaces (Notes 11, 12), or commercial and individual journalists are forced into numbness or withdrawal (Notes 19, 13), regulatory requirements shape the professional environment across media types as a shared structural condition-regardless of where journalists are, trauma cannot be healed through externalized expression nor fully realized in the meaningfulness of professional actions.

Internalization of VT under cultural discipline

Confronted with the ineffective external resolution of VT amid dual professional norms and regulatory rigidity, the direction of some journalists’ trauma expression has experienced a fundamental shift: under the influence of reflective culture, journalists move from questioning whether the institutional environment allows action or whether their skills are enough to a moral self-assessment: whether they themselves are good enough (Notes 4, 7, 11, 15).

In the theory of VT, this shift signifies a negative change in journalists’ cognitive schemas, which is also the most fundamental and core feature of VT. Within the journalism profession, journalists’ cognitive schemas can be seen as a core belief system that supports their work, including the belief that recording suffering is valuable and meaningful, the belief that exploring interviewees’ pain to listen and document is helpful to others and morally justifiable, and the belief that they can positively influence the situation of interviewees as helpers. However, when trauma occurs, this core belief system that underpins their professional practice is completely broken; the journalists’ pain no longer just causes brief frustration over a failed interview, but develops into a lasting doubt about their own value and professional ethics.

This negative transformation follows two paths, starting with reporting outcomes where journalists fall into “moral debt” for failing to save interviewees. Pan Lu expressed deep guilt after an interviewee died by suicide: “Actually, I feel guilty. I should have paid more attention to Linghua’s mental state afterward… I also didn’t succeed in visiting her; I should have fought harder for that” (Note 15). Similarly, Hao Ying felt devastated when another interviewee attempted suicide: “I was very devastated at that time… I felt very sorry for her” (Note 11). In these instances, journalists internalize their failure to prevent tragedy as a personal moral failing, reflecting a deterioration of their self-esteem schema. While guilt exists globally, the Chinese context is uniquely structural. It leads to a complete negation of professional value, as evidenced by Hao Ying’s warning to herself “not to ascribe meaning to her work” (Note 11). This erosion is a profound indicator of deep-seated trauma that cannot be resolved through technical efforts alone.

The second path focuses on the ethics of the interview process, leading to an erosion of trust as journalists question their right to record others’ trauma. Chen Dongyan grappled with the moral cost of her work: “Did I harm a parent engulfed in sorrow? Was it necessary to call him at such a moment?” (Note 4). Similarly, Wei Qian felt like “an intruder” (Note 7), noting that “to disturb them feels like something akin to a crime.” Unlike Western journalism, where interviewing the grieving is primarily negotiated via professional norms, these reporters frame their actions as moral transgressions. This represents a fundamental cognitive shift where journalists lose confidence in their professional legitimacy. This lasting transformation of their internal belief systems is what distinguishes Vicarious Traumatization (VT) from general occupational stress (Jordan, 2010; McCann and Pearlman, 1990).

This internally attributed reflection, naturally focused more on moral character than on professional ability, is rooted in the traditional Confucian practice of self-examination. There has long been a Chinese societal tendency to emphasize individual responsibility (Zhong, 2019). Traditional Chinese society, guided by Confucian thought, emphasizes self-reflection and inner cultivation as key elements for personal and social growth (Kalmanson, 2021; Wang and Chen, 2022). This tradition organizes self-reflection into a three-step process: introspection, self-evaluation, and self-rectification (Xie and Chen, 2018), with the entire process judged by its success in moral improvement. This also explains why the breakdown of cognitive schemas along both paths indicates a general rejection of moral character, rather than a localized self-blame for a specific oversight in reporting technique.

However, for Chinese journalists, this reflective process is hard to truly finish because the regulatory environment leaves limited structural space for change. No matter how reporters reflect, they cannot improve their interviewees’ situations through real actions, nor can they address the broader structural conditions shaping their interviewees’ situations. This results in a Confucian reflection getting stuck in a cycle that journalists cannot escape: introspection - self-assessment - obstruction of correction - back to introspection - self-assessment. It is this endless and incomplete cycle of reflection that turns moral self-blame from a normal professional thought into a traumatic internal drain, continually eroding their cognitive schemas more deeply.