Next to you

Written for MediaStrong Conference 2026

The camera whose cracked lens has seen too much

The writer with ink run dry whose mental script keeps running

The carrier pigeon with broken wings sent out to fly

The witness of burnt bodies whose own burnout is never witnessed

The nights of frantic typing morph into unspoken night terrors

The steady news anchor who trembles with aftershock

The editors cutting, sanitising, left staring at clips replaying on the editing floor

The columnist whose own narrative is hanging by a thread

The reporter who covers conflict lies under the covers conflicted

The broadcaster whose own frontlines have been invaded

The content creators who stumble into the worst creation contains

The reporters ruptured by running to safety while others remain exposed

The onslaught of online abuse where these is no safety to run to

The story tellers whose telling depends on the suffering of strangers

They carry moral injury like undercover surveillance

They are the resilient ones

They are your best colleagues

The ones who keep turning up

The ones who make you feel better

The person right next to you

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By Kate Fox Robinson 2026