SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
A rather limited study by neuroscientist Dr. Tara Swart of brain patterns in 40 volunteer journalist subjects seems to show a prevalence of lack of emotional self-control, as well as lower than average problem-solving skills, among other deficiencies. High blood levels of cortisol were significant.
The headline conclusion reached is that journalists are undoubtedly subject to a range of pressures at work and home, but the meaning and purpose they attribute to their work contributes to helping them remain mentally resilient despite this. Nevertheless, there are areas for improvement, including drinking more water and reducing alcohol and caffeine consumption to increase executive functioning and improve recovery during sleep.
[...] As a group, the journalists also exhibited lower executive functioning scores than the average person, indicating a lower than average ability to regulate emotions, suppress biases, solve complex problems, switch between tasks, and think flexibly and creatively. It is likely that the levels of caffeine/alcohol and the lack of water consumed contributed to the low scores recorded for executive functioning because of the severe impact of dehydration on cognitive ability.
Read the study here: TaraSwart.com [PDF]
[ n1: This is not a peer reviewed study. It was launched in association with the London Press Club, and the objective was to determine how journalists can thrive under stress. Tara Swart is a Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan, she holds a BsC in Biomedical Science and PhD in Neuropharmacology from Kings College London, and a BM BcH in Medicine from Oxford University. ]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:13AM (1 child)
Maybe not the journalists themselves, but their owners perhaps?
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday May 21 2017, @03:59AM
The owners may profit and set the agenda, but they don't do all the legwork journalists have to do -- deal with people, which often means getting drunk with them to loosen the sources up so they'll offer information or some context off the record which could provide more information for a scoop or more leads. And, the journalists aren't the only ones getting wasted -- It's called the "D.C. Cocktail Circuit" for a reason.
But there are reasons why journalists may drink more than professional basket-weavers and kitten-breeders -- because they see firsthand how fucked up and crooked the world really is, and that the people who makes the rules are living in warped forms of non-reality, yet they shape reality for us normal folks.
That doesn't count journalists like Assange who probably can't drink (publicly at least) or CIA plants like Anderson Cooper who are basically plastic automatons.