Journalism, Storytelling, and Collective Care: A Three-Day Program at Stanford University
May 26–28, 2026 | The Nitery Theater
Journalists are trained to witness the world’s crises. Far less attention is given to what happens after the story is filed.
This May, Media Resilience Network (MDRnet) and Vita Activa will host a three-day program at The Nitery Theater exploring trauma, emotional wellbeing, storytelling, and collective resilience in journalism.
Bringing together reporters, editors, freelancers, filmmakers, scholars, students, and community members, the series examines the emotional realities of media work through facilitated dialogue, live performance, and documentary film.
At a moment of industry instability, burnout, layoffs, political polarization, and relentless crisis coverage, the gatherings aim to create something increasingly rare in journalism: space for reflection, vulnerability, and community.
Guided Community Meeting for Journalists and Media Workers
Tuesday, May 26, 2026 | 9:00 AM–1:00 PM
The opening event will convene Bay Area journalists and media workers for a facilitated community meeting focused on trauma, grief, burnout, and the emotional impact of reporting.
The gathering is designed for journalists covering natural disasters, immigration, human suffering, crisis response, and other high-pressure beats, as well as media workers navigating layoffs, buyouts, and freelance instability.
Organizers emphasize that the meeting is not therapy. Instead, it is a confidential, peer-supported space grounded in care, reflection, and mutual respect.
The central question guiding the gathering is direct:
What emotional weight are journalists carrying after years of documenting crisis?
Lunch will be provided.
Register Here to attend the gathering
The Human Condition: A Live Storytelling Performance
Wednesday, May 27, 2026 | 7:00 PM–8:30 PM
The second evening turns to theater and personal storytelling.
The Human Condition emerged from interviews conducted with journalists during a 2022–23 fellowship at Stanford University. Reporters spoke candidly about what they love about journalism, what has harmed them, and how the profession has shaped their emotional lives.
Those interviews evolved into a live storytelling performance centered on vulnerability, memory, resilience, and human connection.
The project reflects a broader effort to address the mental-health impact of journalism through art and public conversation. By using theater as a communal space, the performance invites journalists to confront questions often left unspoken in the profession: trauma, burnout, isolation, safety, and care.
The evening explores storytelling not only as a journalistic tool, but as a form of connection and repair.
Register here to attend
Screening & Conversation: Juntas Somos Fuertes / Stronger Together
Thursday, May 28, 2026 | 6:00 PM–7:30 PM
The series concludes with a screening of Juntas Somos Fuertes / Stronger Together, directed by Mexican filmmaker Tania Claudia Castillo.
The documentary traces the rise of feminist consciousness in Mexico through the activism of lesbian feminist organizer Yan María Castro. Through testimony and historical reflection, the film examines solidarity, resistance, and the ongoing struggle for women’s rights and dignity.
A public conversation will follow the screening featuring:
- Tania Claudia Castillo
- María Zurita Ontiveros
- Luisa Ortiz Pérez
Register to attend the screening
Reimagining Resilience in Journalism
Together, the three events ask a larger question about the future of journalism: What does it mean to build a media culture that values emotional wellbeing alongside public service?
Rather than treating resilience as an individual burden, the program approaches it as a collective practice — rooted in storytelling, community, reflection, and care.
For many journalists, the work of documenting the world’s suffering has come at a personal cost. This series creates space to acknowledge that reality openly — and to imagine new ways of sustaining both journalism and the people who make it possible.
If you need help, feel free to contact us:
+1 973-626-7394 (Signal) – @ GetHelp.11
hello@mdrnet.org
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