9: Emily Morgan and Victoria Macdonald

Hannah Storm and John Crowley host a special conversation between two ITN colleagues, Emily Morgan and Victoria Macdonald, who share their experiences of covering the Covid pandemic. In this episode, Victoria, the Health and Social Care Editor for Channel 4 News, and Emily, the Health Editor at ITV News – talk about the unprecedented nature of news reporting in the past two and a half years and how the toll of continuous reporting on Covid led them both to seek out therapy. With refreshing honesty, they talk about the impact of their work on their mental health - something that many in journalism still find it hard to discuss. They share how they gained support from each other and their newsrooms. Emily and Victoria also pay tribute to the people whose stories they have shared during the pandemic, speak about navigating a constantly changing and uncertain story and dealing with conspiracy theories and online falsehoods. This is an episode that reminds us why journalists matter and why journalism matters even more at times of public health crises.