Resilience as a Structural Condition: Mental Health and Safety Challenges in Watchdog Science Journalism

Abstract

This article examines resilience and mental health as structural conditions shaping journalists’ ability to perform a watchdog role in science-related domains. Based on 12 semi-structured interviews with Romanian investigative journalists, the study shows that watchdog science journalism operates in a fragile environment marked by institutional obstruction, financial precarity, harassment, and emotional strain. These pressures are particularly visible in investigations involving public health, environmental issues, and academic integrity, where journalists must deal with restricted access to information, expert authority, and public hostility. Participants describe burnout, anxiety, moral distress, and difficulties in sustaining long-term investigations without institutional support. Although they rely on coping strategies such as therapy, peer support, digital security practices, and professional networks, these mechanisms offer only partial protection. The article argues that resilience should not be understood only as an individual capacity, but as a structural requirement for sustaining watchdog science journalism. Understanding the conditions that undermine journalists’ mental health, safety, and autonomy is essential for assessing the democratic value of their watchdog function.