FISHBOWL DISCUSSION
Journalist, take care of thyself
Climate disasters, pandemics, or conflict zones aren’t just challenging for audiences. It takes a toll on the journalists covering these stories too. Many experience burnout, anxiety, or even symptoms of PTSD, yet conversations about mental health in newsrooms remain limited. This interactive fishbowl discussion will bring together reporters from diverse beats to share their experiences, coping strategies, and practical advice on sustaining wellbeing in high-stress reporting environments. Unlike traditional panels, this session invites the audience to step into the circle, join the conversation, and share their perspectives before tapping out for others to contribute. Together, we’ll reflect on what newsrooms can do better to support mental health, what individual practices have helped reporters endure, and how journalists can build resilience while continuing to tell the urgent stories the world needs to hear.
If you’d like to share your story during this session, or want to provide anonymous input, please fill in this form.
Bibi-Aisha WadvallaSession producer | Health-E News | South Africa
Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla is the managing editor of Health-e News, a non-profit news publication at the intersection of health and social justice. She’s an award-winning journalist whose career spans radio, television, and development. Previously, she worked for eNCA as a specialist science reporter, the SABC as the Middle East foreign correspondent, and as an SAfm current affairs anchor. Her work has appeared on Al-Jazeera, in the British Medical Journal, The Guardian, IPS, Nature, SciDev.net and Daily News Egypt. She’s been awarded reporting fellowships from the Africa-China Reporting Project, Reuters Foundation, National Press Foundation, International Women’s Media Foundation, Pfizer/SADAG, and the World Federation of Science Journalists. She’s an Atlantic Fellow For Health Equity.
Verashni PillaySpeaker | Explain | South Africa
Verashni Pillay is the founder of explain.co.za, a platform offering accessible and empowering news for those who don’t usually follow current affairs. It was named the best news literacy project in Africa in 2021 by the World Association of Newspapers. She also founded explainagency.co.za, a digital communications agency which helps fund the journalism work. She was previously editor-in-chief of the Mail & Guardian newspaper and HuffPost South Africa, and head of digital at Power FM. She worked as a senior reporter for years covering politics and general news, specialising in digital media management and relishing the task of putting together the right team to create compelling and principled journalism across multiple platforms. Pillay is a recipient of a CNN African Journalism Award, an OSF journalism fellowship, the Mandela Washington Fellowship and was named one of BBC’s 100 women globally.
Usha McFarlingSpeaker | Knight Science Journalism @MIT | USA
Usha Lee McFarling is a science journalist who has reported for STAT, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Knight Ridder Washington Bureau, and the San Antonio Light. Her work has received a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism, Polk Award, Victor Cohn prize, Edward R. Murrow award and the Bernard Lo, MD award in bioethics, among others. She currently serves on the board of the Association of Health Care Journalists and is publisher of Undark. Usha graduated from Brown University with a degree in biology and earned a master’s degree at UC Berkeley.
Amr RagehSpeaker | Freelance | Egypt
Amr Rageh is a freelance science journalist and pharmacist focused on making health and science accessible. He has worked in medical content since 2017 and trained in science journalism across the MENA region and beyond.