A burned-out journalist’s journey of creating better mental health practises in the industry – interview with Mar Cabra 

Editor’s note: The Fix is running the “What’s your media job” series where we look at different job positions and career trajectories in and around the news industry. For this edition, we spoke with Mar Cabra, co-founder of The Self-Investigation. 

Mar Cabra won her Pulitzer Prize for heading the data and technology team for the Panama Papers. Despite being part of the more impactful investigative journalistic initiative of our time, she didn’t feel happy. “Everyone around me said, ‘You should be happy. You’ve reached the peak of your career.’ Yet internally, I was unhappy, sad, and felt negative about my work. I didn’t understand why” reflects Cabra.

She realised that prioritising her work before herself had drained her, mentally and physically. As a result, she decided to quit her position at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and focus her time on healing and recovering. 

Stemming from her personal battle with mental health, Cabra along with Aldara Martitegui and Kim Brice started The Self-Investigation, a global nonprofit. Amidst the pandemic, they started this venture that would help journalists deal with the mental pressures of the job and with digital overwhelm. 

The Fix spoke with Mar Cabra to understand her journey from being an award-winning journalist to an impact-driven co-founder and executive director of The Self-Investigation. 

Backstory

The environment in which journalists work is often filled with stress and anxiety. Research on the challenges and problems faced by war and calamity reporters in the form of anxiety and PTSD is well-documented. Yet, the pressure of this profession is not restricted to those on the front lines. 

The constant pressure to produce stories under strict deadlines and the unlimited daily consumption of grim news can put severe pressure on journalists who work in the newsroom. 

Cabra started her career as an intern at the BBC in 2005. She later worked with Spanish network CNN+, IaSexta Noticias and El Nuevo Herald. She joined the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2011 as an investigative reporter. For many years there she worked on multiple investigative projects like the Panama Papers, Offshore Leaks database, Paradise Papers and more. In 2021 she started writing bi-monthly columns at the El Confidencial.

Cabra recalls how since the beginning of her career she was dealing with depression. “I [have] had depression since my career began in 2008. My colleagues back then told me to never disclose this as it could hurt my career.” She was surprised to hear the confessions of her colleagues who reported suffering the same fate and were on antidepressants and anxiety medications. Yet no one voiced this out, fearing the consequences on their career.

The Self-Investigation

The Self-Investigation started as a pandemic project. While Cabra was taking care of her own mental health, many colleagues reached out asking for her support. She turned to her personal development coach Aldara Martitegui and another coach Kim Brice, who was an expert on stress management. 

When she noticed the scale at which people were joining her pandemic project seeking remedies to better their mental health, they decided to form an organisation. The Self-Investigation was born out of the acute need of journalists and their solutions addressed the unique pressures of this profession. In November 2021, they registered the venture as a non-profit in the Netherlands.

Cabra says, “Journalism is one of the most stressful professions alongside firefighters, military personnel and doctors. Yet despite its intensity and burden, journalists lack the basic training to self-guard themselves. The profession is missing its first aid kit.” And The Self-Investigation provides it.

Their services are evidence-based and rooted in lessons from neuroscience and psychology to digital wellness and mindfulness. They offer consultancies, online courses, training and coaching by partnering with media organisations and with individual journalists. They have worked with the International Center for Journalists, AFP, The Guardian, Zeit Online and many more.

The Self-Investigation team is international and comprises 15 members. They have 9 trainers and can offer their services in multiple languages including English and Spanish. They charge the media companies based on their offerings of training sessions, reviewing / creating employee support policies and counselling with certified professionals. Their 10 pre-recorded live sessions from 2022 would cost around $60.

Cabra’s role

As the co-founder and executive director, Cabra’s primary obligations are towards keeping the organisation afloat financially. This requires her to convince and negotiate with media companies to get The Self-Investigation on board and start helping the journalists. 

Cabra notes the enthusiasm journalists show to get the offerings from The Self-Investigation. However, the media organisations might not be able to spare the monetary resources due to the financial crisis faced by them. Despite this, Cabra notes that the people working in the human resources department are the most interested in working with The Self-Investigation.

“People in the human resources departments are deeply concerned about talent retention and talent acquisition. Catering to their mental health and wellbeing helps to mitigate the great number of sick leaves that they’re having due to mental health challenges.”

Investing in your people is the best investment you can make, especially with the economy and business struggling

Mar Cabra

Her current tasks are geared towards being proactive in gaining more clients. The 30+ clients that The Self-Investigation have worked with became clients through word-of-mouth. She wants the organisation to stir itself into becoming more proactive and making the mental health moment more prominent. 

“The door for mental health in journalism is left a little ajar. It is time now to wedge the door wide and make everyone get through it” she says.

Cabra is also a digital wellness trainer. However, her primary role is working towards drafting and implementing strategies for her venture’s functioning in the present and future. In tandem with her goals, The Self-Investigation has launched the first-ever online mental health summit for journalism. This global and free initiative collaborates with 15 partners and will coincide with World Mental Health Day in October.

Source of the cover photo: Consejo de Redacción

---