Dr. Kortni (00:00)
Welcome to the Compassionate Newsroom, your gateway to transforming the heart and soul of journalism. I'm your host, Dr. Kortni Alston Lemon. I'm a former news director and television reporter turned happiness scholar. Now I train news leaders and journalists worldwide, teaching them how to cultivate workplace wellbeing and resilience with positive psychology. Each week, join me as I share evidence-based strategies.
and talk with some of the most inspiring people in the industry, including news leaders, journalists, trainers, and mental health experts. Together we'll share actionable approaches to help you. Imagine a newsroom that not only cares about the story, but profoundly values the people behind them. A place where compassion is the competitive advantage. Don't just listen, become part of this transformative journey. Subscribe to and share The Compassionate Newsroom. Let's champion a more supportive,
healthier and happier newsroom culture, one episode at a time.
Dr. Kortni (01:03)
Happy Wellbeing Wednesday. I'm Dr. Kortni Today we're highlighting the American Press Institute, also known as API. Their mission is to empower local and community-based media by providing research, programs, and products aimed at cultivating healthy, responsive, and resilient news organizations. Two remarkable members of the API team are joining us. Vice President of Journalism Program, Sam Ragland,
and the Director of Local News Transformation, Emily Ristow. Together we'll discuss the art of constructive listening and explore effective self-care strategies for news leaders. You'll also learn how making noise can enhance your wellbeing by leaving loudly. Plus, you'll find out how API's resources can support you and your team in fostering a thriving news environment. Let's get started.
Dr. Kortni (01:58)
I am talking to two of my favorite human beings that come out of the American Press Institute. And I tell you, Sam, Emily, I'm excited about you being on the podcast.
I would love for our audience to get to know you and some personal stories as it relates to leadership. Who was an impactful leader in your life and why? And that could be in and out of the newsroom.
Sam Ragland (02:31)
Lily, do you want to take this first?
If not, I have one. If not, I have one.
Dr. Kortni (02:35)
Bye.
Emily Ristow (02:36)
Yeah, go ahead Sam. No, I mean I have some, I'm just trying to think about...
Dr. Kortni (02:42)
The party has started. It's so wonderful. It's a happy party.
Sam Ragland (02:44)
One potato, two potato. I have given this question a lot of thought actually. And I have the same answer every single time and you could track me back years and years and years. But my dad is the most incredible, thoughtful, consistent and fair leader I have ever known in my entire life. Prentice Ragland, Prenny for short.
and, you know, when I was a kid, he would always take us to, football practice at Henderson County high school in the summer, the two a days you may know. And he was the defensive line coach. And I remember working all weekend with my dad in our backyard on the agility ladder, you know, like for the footsteps so that the defensive line man could block and guard, well, and, then he would put me in front of the.
Dr. Kortni (03:28)
Yeah.
Sam Ragland (03:32)
the linemen, these high school football players, which for me, I'm like five, six years old. And he would trust me to teach them. He would trust me to lead them through. And they would listen, Dr. Kortni And I learned a lot from my dad in those summers teaching football agility skills to these huge defensive linemen. One, I learned my voice is powerful and it's important in the room, right? I learned to trust the voice.
that comes out because he was really kind of coaching and guiding me all along. And if he could trust what I was going to share, that I could trust what I was going to share. And that level of humility that he showed to give his daughter front stage, it taught me a lot about myself. And it taught me a lot about how to hold space and ensure that I'm leaving space for others. so Coach Ragland all day, all day is just...
I love him. I'm so, I'm glad he's my dad.
Dr. Kortni (04:32)
I am so glad he's your dad too. I mean, that is powerful. Powerful in regards to having you at that young age, to instill this confidence in your voice, the power of your voice. Yeah, look, he's my favorite coach. He's now my favorite coach too.
Sam Ragland (04:37)
have.
Dr. Kortni (04:53)
Emily, who has been an inspirational leader for you?
Emily Ristow (04:54)
I don't know.
I don't know that I have such a charming story as Sam's.
not, yeah, I have definitely not thought about this as much as Sam has. I think there's been like a number of people who have taught me different things. Sort of the first person who has sprung to mind was Rachel Piper, who's an editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. And what was sort of interesting about the beginning of our relationship is I had applied for the job that she had gotten. So there was some interesting sort of like navigation that needed to happen there, right? Like I was staying on.
and I really admired how much time she spent to like get to know everybody at the beginning. Like it wasn't just like, how do you do your work and what is the workflow? was like, who, who are you? How do you like to hear praise? Like, what are some of the pain points for you now? What's something that you really want to try? Like, she really, like, I think she like sat down with more than a dozen folks and did these sorts of like interviews. And it was, it was just like a really interesting.
approach I thought, and got our relationship off to a really good start. she was, I also just appreciated as someone who had come into a newsroom that had a lot of people who had been working there like 20 years plus, that it wasn't like, I'm going to come in here and force my ideas. She really understood everyone and was really very strategic in how she unrolled stuff. And there was a lot to do, right? And a lot of things that could be improved.
So I just felt like the overall kind of like leadership team like shifted under her lead, like with her as part of that too. So that was really beneficial for everyone, I think.
Dr. Kortni (06:31)
I love that about her, right? It says so much in the importance of being seen and making sure that you really know your team. And so yeah, that is powerful, Emily. That is a powerful, powerful example of leadership and something for us to be inspired by. I think that's really important while you're cultivating your team and really cultivating yourself that you see powerful people that are there.
So let's talk about a powerful organization and the incredible people behind it, which happens to be the American Press Institute. I, look, like I told you guys earlier, I have such a soft spot for API and the wonderful work that you're doing. Matter of fact, you came up during my National Association of Black Journalists Wellness Task Force Leadership Meeting, and just talking about all the great initiatives that you have.
So one of the things I want to inform listeners about is for you to share kind of an overview of some of key initiatives that you have within your organization, especially as it relates to supporting news leaders with fostering wellbeing in newsrooms.
Sam Ragland (07:47)
think I start at the mission of API, which doesn't just focus on business line sustainability for local and community center news organizations, but we really take to heart the people sustainability part of this work. we are concerned that we will get the business model right and there will be no people left.
to support the news and communicate the information that our communities and our neighbors need. so well-being and just human sustainability is embedded throughout everything that we do. We are incredibly thoughtful when it comes to supporting journalists and supporting the news leaders that are leading and managing those journalists, their workloads, their pace of work, their mental health, et cetera. And so you'll see lots of things coming from API on this front.
You'll see Need to Know Takeovers. Need to Know is our weekly newsletter. And in that newsletter, especially on Mondays, on any given Monday in any month of the year, you may see a well-being series. You may see a leadership or mental health reset series. Anything that we do, we try to make as actionable and accessible as possible. And we also try to make it bite-sized. We know that news leaders and journalists are
often overworked for sure, underpaid for sure, right? And yet they're called to the work and we wanna support that call the best way that we can. So our content is one of the ways that we do that. You can see it all the time anywhere. We also have our local news summits. And actually last year, October, 2023, that's where you and I met Dr. Kortni for the first time.
We hosted the first, I know, wasn't it awesome? I'm drinking out of that cup actually, the Switch Yards cup. They gave me one. I know. Great coffee, I know. So good, And so we hosted the first ever mental health summit for journalists in Atlanta, which was this really highly actionable participatory two day intensive.
Dr. Kortni (09:21)
I
was beautiful.
Great coffee.
Sam Ragland (09:43)
for news leaders who are especially practitioners. We wanted to call together people who may feel alone in the wellbeing initiatives that they're taking on or that they want to take on. And we wanted to train them up. We wanted to encourage them and coach them up. We wanted to give them access to people like you so they could learn more and take all of that work and learning back to their newsrooms. And so we'll do local news summits like that. Emily has another one that we did this year. Emily, you wanna talk about the belonging summit?
Emily Ristow (10:11)
Yeah, which Dr. Kortni, you were at that one in Minneapolis in July. We loved you so much in Atlanta.
Dr. Kortni (10:14)
gosh, I love you guys. These summits are so thoughtfully organized and curated by you both. I mean, in the entire team. So yes, I treasure working with you Emily.
Sam Ragland (10:17)
Choo!
Emily Ristow (10:30)
Yeah. And like for that one, we had brought together a bunch of news leaders who'd gone through digital transformation programs over the years. So depending on when they did that program sort of pre pandemic or during the pandemic or after there really wasn't any discussion about wellbeing. So we wanted to get all those folks together to sort of think more about their internal culture in that way. And one of the hallmarks of these summits is to bring in experts from outside journalism spaces.
which you were part of that Dr. Kortni, but I think that yeah, that's one of the things that I think people most appreciate. We hear that from them afterwards. That's what they put in their survey responses. That they're like, it's nice to not only have that space with fellow journalists tackling the same challenges, but to also hear all of these ideas outside of our own industry too.
Sam Ragland (11:16)
Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I think what we're learning from that, from those efforts, I'm thinking about our election summit that we hosted in Akron earlier this year. And Emily did this awesome training on stop doing, like, what can you take off your plate that's not serving your mission and that's not driving impact, which is a mental health conversation. Hello, right? As much as imposter syndrome is a mental health conversation. And what we find is that even though our local news summits really are challenge specific, the
Dr. Kortni (11:33)
Yes.
Sam Ragland (11:43)
the conversation of mental health and well-being, of people's sustainability, like shifting out of survival and into flourishing is across all of them. It's across all of them, right? And so we are all feeling a need to have healthier relationships with the work that we feel called to do as journalists. And we at API hear and see that.
consistently, no matter what news leaders from what sides of the newsroom were convening, conversation can bend toward mental health pretty consistently.
Dr. Kortni (12:15)
I love that. I love that so much. I'm so curious about Emily's session on Stop Doing. Emily, like what did you, some of the highlights that you covered during that session? Because I'm intrigued by hearing, you know, because as soon as I hear the title, I think about, okay, let's focus in on what we're carrying, right? And so what are the key highlights?
Sam Ragland (12:38)
Mm-hmm.
Emily Ristow (12:38)
Yeah.
Yeah, well, I'll do it first when you'd ask the earlier leader question. Another person, another name rattling around in my brain was John Adams, who was my manager at that point when we first did this, like for real in the Journal Sentinel newsroom. And that was just, we were having a really difficult time, like bringing on new initiatives because there was just so much. And it was like, okay, let's just like have a moment to vent and put this all down on paper. Like, what do we think is getting in our way?
And that's exactly what we had you all do at the summit, right? And that's something that I'm sure people have done on their own before too, just like kind of write everything down or there's an email you write but never send, like that sort of like exercise, right? That can be a little bit cleansing. But the key was stop doing and what we really emphasize at the summit is that that should really sort of turn into a to-do list of things you need to give up. Because I think that follow through can be really difficult.
Sam Ragland (13:34)
and
Emily Ristow (13:35)
So we had people think about of those things they want to give up, what's something that they could give up right away. Maybe it's just like something that they're doing or something they're holding onto that they have total control over. We know that some things might involve larger conversations. And we know that sometimes like things on that list, people's feelings might be hurt too, if it's like a project they're really invested in. So we didn't get as much into that.
conversation in our sort truncated training that we did. But that's something we talk about too is like how to start those conversations with folks about things to give up. Because a lot of times in newsrooms I think people kind of measure their worth with how busy they are. So really helping people think through what is the impact of what they're doing.
And it's not that we're trying to like take work away from you, but maybe there's something else even more impactful you could be doing, or maybe there's something that you wanted to try that you feel like you don't have the time for. So I think those are some of the big, big things. And in terms of what people kind of put down to stop doing, meetings come up a lot, right? Like the meetings that you just like always have that maybe like don't have an agenda. I think with these conversations that are just with leaders of
teams and organizations, which is what most of the folks at the summit, they reflect on how their actions and how their to-do lists affect other people too, which I think you don't always do in a day to day. So that's been helpful when some people have thought about delegation as an opportunity for some of that stuff, or we had someone reflect at a summit about how they really weren't.
helping their interns as much as they should be be cut and that was like sort of a realization that they had through doing that exercise. So those are some of the major things.
Dr. Kortni (15:17)
That is fantastic. love that because it allows you to really reflect. And speaking of that,
this is the postcard from the mental health summit that I continue to keep close by and I purposely put it in the studio so I can always refer to it and see it. But that's how meaningful
that experience was for me, even as a trainer coming in. And so I am so curious in regards to more of the successful programs that you have within the American Press Institute and some resources that you develop. Because outside of this postcard that I lovingly keep close to me, I often share that incredible infographic.
that came out of that session about burnout. It is on like my presentation slides and every time I'm presenting, I'm talking about American Press Institute. So what are some of the other programs that are really been successful that you may wanna highlight there?
Sam Ragland (16:25)
Thank you for sharing that postcard. Somebody also sent me a picture of theirs after the Belonging Summit that we hosted in Minneapolis. And I was so taken by it, right? Because it's like, to me, it's those small details that don't take a lot of time. They certainly don't take a lot of money. And when we think about news organizations creating healthier culture,
Oftentimes it feels so out of reach, but at our summits, we do all of these little small things that can easily be plucked and pulled right into your newsroom to engage your staff on a personal level, on a caring level, and can really infuse a dose of sanity and care and wellbeing into your culture. And so I'm so excited that you, I took that graphic with me to SourceCon by the way, and I just.
We printed like 30 of them and I think I brought back like six. Everybody, some people were like, can I take two? How do you suggest I give this to my boss? And I'm like, let's come, have a conversation about how you can get this to your boss. And we're like talking strategically about like how to not put them on blast, but also you need to be simple graphic because I'm out, right? Anyway, so a couple of other things. mean, API has a really strong private training portfolio. We have a really strong mental health portfolio. That's a part of that.
Dr. Kortni (17:17)
Wow.
Yes!
Sam Ragland (17:42)
that covers everything from your inner critic and confidence in leadership to burnout, to trauma informed leadership. We have Emily's stop doing session. We have a complimentary delegation session and how to create a delegation roadmap so that you are really pouring into your rising stars in a way that is purposeful and not like just shoe task, get off of me, right?
And so we think kind of holistically about the journalists. And again, we find so often that connection is the cream of the crop, right? And across our trainings and across our resources, we're driving people to connect. So many, mean, you know this, right? Dr. Kortni, like we are in an age of social isolation.
and loneliness. It's happening in our newsrooms even when you see people on a daily basis. You have no idea that that connection is so transactional that they go home and feel so alone. And so, you know, from our private trainings to our mental health guides, I think one of the things that API does really well is curation. There's a lot of information in the world. And our goal is
Dr. Kortni (18:32)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Ragland (18:54)
to curate the best, most accessible and actionable resources for journalists that we possibly can so that you aren't in need of help, go to Google, get overwhelmed, and then get no help, right? And so we have like a mental health guide. We went through probably 200 resources to curate this down to the most actionable and necessary resources across leadership roles.
Dr. Kortni (19:09)
Absolutely.
Sam Ragland (19:22)
and reporter journalist frontline roles so that you can go here and scroll to the need. Is it vicarious trauma? Is it racialized trauma? Is it moral injury? Is it online harassment? What is the mental health crisis that you might be experiencing? Go there. What role are you? Are you a newsroom manager and a leader? Are you an individual contributor? Then go there, right? And so we want to be as thoughtful and considerate as possible.
because we're the American Press Institute, right? And selfishly, we want all journalists to stay in journalism. We don't care what newsroom, we don't care what role, but if you're gonna leave one newsroom, Lord knows we want you to go to another. We do not want you to leave altogether. And we move into our resources and build products based on that, including all of our case studies and stuff that Emily can talk about.
Emily Ristow (20:11)
Yeah, I was going to add we have the site betternews.org, which is created with the idea like Sam said, like, here is something you can steal and adapt and use in your organization now. that's sort of anything we do like with the summits or other programs that we run, we know that it's a privilege to be able to participate in those. So we always try to create some artifacts that will help.
people who were there remember, right? Like the illustration that you all were talking about. But we'll also help people who couldn't be there have some good takeaways. So I think that is also really useful. And actually a couple of the articles that we had from that Belonging Summit in July were some of our most read of the year on Better News, especially around managing cross-generational tensions and that sort of thing. The problems that were most popular in our room in the summit are
know, most popular across the industry, right? So we try to create things that can help other folks too.
Dr. Kortni (21:03)
I love that. First of all, I love Better News. It's just an incredible resource. And matter of fact, I will add the link to Better News in the show notes, along with all of the other great resources that you're hearing from Sam and Emily in regards to the American Press Institute. You know, one of the things that I value is that how thoughtful the both of you are and the entire API team is about
practical application and key takeaways. And I love that everything is so curated to, I mean, honestly, to perfection in regards to getting the room involved, building engagement, and I mean, the list can go on. I would love for you to provide some examples of how news organizations
have applied the resources that you've created to cultivate a healthier work environment. And what were the outcomes of that?
Emily Ristow (22:05)
I can start with this one, Sam. Yeah. So this is actually also an example of how we did the thing that we're wanting other organizations to do. So our team worked with the National Equity Project this spring to hold a four-week training for local news organizations on how to run more equitable teams, run more equitable meetings. And through that training, we learned from them this practice of constructivist listening.
Sam Ragland (22:07)
What?
Dr. Kortni (22:09)
Yes.
huh.
Emily Ristow (22:32)
where you give with a small group or just a partner, you just listen to someone share for five, 10 minutes without any interruptions. Usually you're not even nodding or, know, because that could sort of make them dig in on a point or something like that. You're just there to really listen and give them space. So that was something that we found really powerful because as...
trained journalists, that's not how we're used to listening, right? Like we're interviewing people and we're adding on and we're, you know. So it's like a little bit of an uncomfortable practice at first, but can be really valuable. So we really enjoyed learning about that. So we actually brought that to our summit and we've heard of people using that in their own organizations, right? Like using that as part of a one-on-one and like introducing that as a concept. Like we're gonna do this where I'm like just listening, right? Cause it is, it's a little weird at first if you're not used to it, but
Yeah, so that's something that we have definitely heard people try and like try successfully in like one on ones.
Dr. Kortni (23:32)
I love that session. That is one of the things that I remember so well was at the Belonging Summit and at the end, having that opportunity to actively listen in a way, as you mentioned, Emily, know, nodding, like avoiding that because that might also spark something in a person who's sharing and the importance of just looking.
and not thinking about responding, like at an episode with a dear friend of mine who is the senior associate director at the Carter Center in terms of the Rosalynn Carter mental health journalism. And she and I have been friends for 25 years, we met in news. And she talks about the importance of active listening. And every time I'm hearing anyone talk about active listening, I think about that session. It was...
extremely powerful for me as a trainer just coming in. And I'm so happy to hear about how impactful it was and it clearly continues to be for news organizations. So Emily, thanks for sharing that. Sam, is there anything you wanted to add?
Sam Ragland (24:40)
Yeah, I I would just say that we do the best that we can to model helpful behaviors and frameworks. You've experienced this because you've been to two of the summits, right? And so constructivist listening is one of those. At the Rural Engagement and News Summit that we hosted in Tulsa earlier this year, we taught constructivist listening. We also taught the solutions journalism tactic of layered listening, where you listen for facts, feelings, values, and then you loop for understanding.
And then we taught people how to listen like a trampoline, right? Like how do you listen in a way that you aren't absorbing the energy and regurgitating, but instead you're listening in a way that the energy bounces off of you and goes to a higher place, right? That you are willing to go blue sky first as opposed to it'll never happen, we don't have the money, right? Or, I can't talk to you about that right now, I'm busy.
things that can really quickly dampen somebody's mental health and wellbeing. That one idea, that one spark that could have caught a blaze that was gonna blaze this new trail for you, right? But like, and so listen, how can you listen differently as a way of engaging and responding to people's wellbeing in the workplace? Those timing tactics, they're small. That was like a six minute lesson maybe that was that resonant with you, right?
And that's, get that in our feedback and we get emails about it all the time. That it was the listening tactics or it was the community guidelines, like setting the community guidelines. And now I do that in my team meetings, right? Or I do that in my project. I was just doing a training on collaboration amid the storm with a news organization yesterday. And the news leader wanted to talk about how chaotic.
Dr. Kortni (25:58)
god, yes.
Hmm.
Sam Ragland (26:21)
things can be and they want to really kind of set some calm and get some strategies for collaborating in a storm, like literally an organizational storm. And we talked about community guidelines, because this was a hub oriented team, which means they're building teams across their organization all the time. And one team will be different in this season than in the next with the next project, right? And so how do you get everybody on the same level showing up the same way, right? Well, you set community guidelines.
And that was one of the lessons that came out of the Belonging Summit too, and people really loved it. And so it's small things like that that we have heard people are executing in their newsrooms. People are, there's a news organization that launched their first sabbatical program. We're waiting to hear back on their, and yeah, I know, a community center newsroom.
Dr. Kortni (27:09)
That is, that is unique. Like in academia, yes, but in a newsroom, wow.
Sam Ragland (27:15)
Right, right. And even in nonprofit, it's like something that happens, but only for like higher, higher level folks, right? And then like how you make that happen. And so I think that one of the things that we're finding is that the more news leaders with positional authority can hear that somebody else has absorbed risk, created learning and best practice, they're willing to go down that route, right? And it can be as big as a sabbatical program or as a, you know, as a
Dr. Kortni (27:21)
Yeah.
Sam Ragland (27:43)
unlimited no ask PTO policy. And it can be as small, small as constructive listening, as a move to engage your staff, right? It's good because a lot of these are more sustained systemic approaches to wellbeing and mental health as opposed to, you're gonna be wrong. I love training on mental health, right? But I also understand that changing behavior is really hard and changing systems is even harder.
And a one-off training will likely not get you there. It might create some individual transformation, but organizational transformation is different. And so you need something more sustained over a longer period of
Dr. Kortni (28:24)
What does that look like when you say not just one, right? What does that look like in terms of cultivating something that is sustainable?
Sam Ragland (28:33)
Yeah, mean, Emily certainly can speak to this with all the digital transformation work that she has done and where those best practices are. And in my experience, one of the key pieces that's missing is often HR. And that news organizations, newsrooms, are getting well-being and mental health training. They're getting the language to explain and describe what's happening. They're getting news leaders who want to create the right intervention. And it's like a one-off case, right?
And then you onboard someone and you onboard them to the old culture. And if that newsletter leaves, then the culture leaves with them, right? And so the news organization needs to be trained. HR also needs to be involved. Onboarding processes, re-onboarding processes to new ways of doing news, of showing up. All of those things need to happen consistently as opposed to what is
Often the case, which is they happen reactively, right? Like the news cycle broke, it was devastating. My people need to talk about their wellbeing, And that I think furthers the compartmentalization problem that we have in news, Which makes us unhealthy for ourselves. It makes us different for our families and the way that we show up.
Dr. Kortni (29:28)
Mm-hmm.
So true. I really value that you're talking about not being reactive or being proactive in terms of your strategy to really help not just as one and done, you know, but to really cultivate cultural change that starts at the very first day that you enter into an organization. That in itself is incredible.
Sam Ragland (30:06)
That's right.
Emily Ristow (30:12)
I mean, I would just add that I think in terms of the sustainability, you don't just need kind of like the vision of what you want changed, but you also need like processes in place. So I think that some of that comes along with the same, but maybe there's like some documentation, right? So if the leader does leave, so like some like boring stuff, right? Where you kind of need to like formalize some stuff, like it can't be like a case by case basis.
Dr. Kortni (30:30)
Yeah.
Sam Ragland (30:37)
And I think, I'm sorry, but one extra thought there, which is that it's hard for people to change themselves. And so if you are gonna create the processes and the documentation, and if you're gonna create the systems that really support journalists as whole people with diverse identities, you will also have to decide to commit to it really for the long haul, right? Because one of the things that we have heard and seen is that like,
Dr. Kortni (30:38)
Absolutely.
Sam Ragland (31:04)
You can have an unlimited PTO policy and people still never take PTO. And so there's this question of where did you come from? Where's your value aligned in the work that you're doing? And how do you do some personal work that makes you safe and comfortable to take PTO that's not adjacent to a holiday, for example. So we need work too. And I think like organizationally,
within caring organizations, you can kind of walk in lockstep as opposed to what can also happen, which is you start from day one, but old habits die so hard and you came from an old habit into a new culture. And it can be really, really hard to get your footing in a new culture. It can feel unreal. It can feel for some of us from the margins, like a trap, right? And so how do you, you gotta walk with people, you know?
Dr. Kortni (31:39)
Mm-hmm.
Mmm!
Yeah, that is so true. That is so true in terms of that walk, that mentorship, that real true level of support. Now, outside of the postcard, the burnout infographic that I share during training, I feel like I need to start having a quote or something on my wall that talks about another thing that I share that came out of API, leave loudly.
And I say that because for me, that has been the one of the greatest phrases of a leadership commitment to modeling and giving and granting permission for yourself. And then also being able to make sure that you are empowering your team to
Leave loudly too. Make some noise. Rattle the door.
Sam Ragland (32:51)
Yep.
Dr. Kortni (32:53)
opposed to me sharing a little bit more about what that means, I would love it to come from you both in regards to, know, because I know the personal story. So feel free, share the value of leaving loudly because one of the things I think is important is for news leaders to have actionable items, right, that they can take and to demonstrate.
their commitment to wellbeing, especially the wellbeing of themselves and their teams.
Sam Ragland (33:22)
I love it. That's one of my favorite phrases that was given to me by a mentor of mine, Cheryl Carpenter. And I have thought a lot about it. I think our team here at API does a great job of leaving loudly even when it feels quiet, right? Like for example, we're really committed to Slack status updates. People know when we're offline, they know when Emily is taking a walk, they know when I'm...
The updates changed. It's really, and that's a way of leaving loudly. It's about the announcement of unavailability, right? And you'll remember at the mental health summit when I think it was Jen Rahill raised her hand and said, sometimes you gotta close the darn door. Do you remember she said that? And the whole room was like, yeah. You know, because we're.
Because we probably grew up in this leadership culture and it's right. You want to be accessible. You are there for your people. But there is a point where it drives you over the edge, right? Because you can't focus on your own work. You're always being distracted. So you're never really finishing. And so this idea of leaving loudly, of shutting yourself off. I'm really lucky to have somebody like Emily on my team who is so protective of other people leaving loudly and herself, right? And we do a good job.
Dr. Kortni (34:16)
Mm-hmm.
Sam Ragland (34:34)
They're not available right now. And for leaders, it's like, yes, do more of that. Again, that is a free well-being practice that will shore up your team, that will keep their resilience high, and that will help them model stronger boundaries in a healthier relationship with work. Just leave. Get out and don't sneak out. Get out, set your out of office, set your Slack or your team's update, and then put in the all staff if it's about all that.
Dr. Kortni (34:54)
Yes.
Sam Ragland (35:03)
You know, I'm leaving, I'm offline for the rest of the day. It seems terrifying, but it is liberating, especially for journalists who do not think that they have a right.
Dr. Kortni (35:13)
No, it is so liberating. You're so, right. and I love for you to share elements of this, Emily. I love the fact that Sam just said, you will put your head out for a walk. Like, how do you feel when you are...
in that position of being able to leave loudly within yourself and what does that support look like within your organization?
Emily Ristow (35:39)
Yeah, I mean, I will say that because we're in journalism support and not in a newsroom, it's easier, right? Like I remember when I was in a newsroom, I had to like really be taught like, okay, if you say that you're leaving, like then don't respond to those Slack messages after you've like logged off for the day or on the weekend or whatever. But I mean, in terms of our team, I think that our biggest thing is like communicate where you are, right? And you don't even need to say like,
I'm taking a walk because I'm really stressed out about this thing that I'm working on and I've had a roadblock and you just say like, I'm just going to take a 20 minute break and walk around the block. So I think, you know, we, like Sam said, we update our Slack statuses. If we're stepping out, there's another member of our team who's really awesome about that too. And we also like, we'll send a message within our internal team too. And I think that that's just really nice to have.
that option and to know that you're supported in that too. So sometimes that might look like, I know this person is off for the day, so I'm going to schedule this message to go to them tomorrow. Because we have that ability with Slack, right? So it might be something like that. Or I know that they're really focused on this other thing this afternoon. So I think we show care in that way too.
and we definitely encourage folks like when they take PTO to really take PTO. and I think that there's also that like mental boundary, right? Like I'm going to go on this walk and I'm going to listen to this album, or I'm going to listen to this podcast and I'm not going to think about work for 20 minutes too, or I'm going on vacation and I'm not going to worry about this project while I'm gone. So I think that's part of it too, is you really kind of have to like train yourself with some of that too. And I think.
in our position at API, when we have colleagues join who come from news organizations, there's a lot, like you have to be like very blunt about like, this is a different work culture and like, this is how we do things here. And like, you are not expected to work past 5pm and we're not expecting you to work on the weekend. You know, like just really be clear about that because you may hear that in a news organization, but you know that that was probably not quite.
True, but in our case, there's not really a lot of emergencies that are gonna come up in our work that we need to respond to that moment. So I did have a former boss too, if I was really pushing to get something out by the end of the day, she'd be like, does it make that much of a difference if they get that email at 5.30 today or if they get it at 9.30 tomorrow? And it's like, no, it doesn't, you're right. They're in Eastern time also. They're probably not gonna deal with this right now
Dr. Kortni (38:11)
I really, I love this especially when you're used to working in news where everything is nonstop. And it's interesting, even though I no longer work in a newsroom and I'm serving as a trainer.
The love of my life, my husband is a reporter. one thing I live with him and I love him, but he values constantly, constantly, this, I'm snapping at my fingers, constantly responding, right? And on top of that, he's the national president of the National Association of Black Journalists. So then there's the whole advocacy dynamic. But what I love about what you shared,
is the value of pressing pause. And if you want to, like you schedule it. And then I value the fact of having a leader that's gonna tell you it's okay, right? It's okay to take that walk. It's okay to be able to wait and send it out. Or even if you want to write it and schedule it, right? So I love these things because I'm hoping that some news leaders out there that are listening
Sam Ragland (38:52)
Mm-hmm.
Emily Ristow (39:11)
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Kortni (39:17)
will start to understand the value of closing their door and scheduling things in their life and going on that walk. Because those are all great personal strategies to help as it relates to their wellbeing. I'm curious about something else before I lead into the very last question of the show. What are some personal self-care tips?
I'm hearing about Emily's walk. I know about her cats. Or a cat. Anyone cat?
Sam Ragland (39:48)
Thank you.
Emily Ristow (39:49)
Yeah. We almost had a brief appearance just now, but I think she's left the room again.
Dr. Kortni (39:53)
Gosh, she's so adorable. She's adorable. I was a cat mom. So my cat's dynasty in Garfield. Bless them, love them so much. So share some best practices for your own personal self care that hopefully someone who's listening as a news leader can start to think about themselves.
Sam Ragland (40:13)
Yeah, I think one of the things that I would share for all of the news leaders is that self-care isn't a one size fits all. And it's kind of like riding a bike. You will fall off and you need to just get back on. Right. I think that like so often we consider workplace well-being as a thing that is immediately fixed and then never has to be tweaked and fine tuned. But it's just not true.
your life stage changes, the people that you care about change, and it will change and impact or influence the way that you work and the way that you relate to work. And so what can work for you now may be different in a different season. And I think being comfortable with that, as opposed to staying in this kind of fixed mindset of I'm healthy when I'm running every day and I'm not healthy if I'm not, or I'm healthy if I'm, you know, whatever.
And so I would just encourage news leaders to have routines and regular maintenance of their wellbeing, of their boundaries, of how they communicate those boundaries, because it will change. For me, you know, I'm always inspired when Emily puts up her little walking man and I'm like, I should walk. And then I'm like, I live in South Florida, it's so hot. So I do have a walking pad though, and I do walk on it.
pretty regularly, not this week, so I have a cold, but the moving helps. One of the things that Irving, the former CEO of Washington, Irving Washington of ONA mentioned when he first bumped into the Kaiser Foundation, he was like posting something on Instagram. I just love him, he's so smart. And he was out for a strategic run. And he was like, I'm out for a, I've got this problem, I didn't know how to solve it. And so I went for a run.
I'll be back in like half an hour, right? And then he was like recording himself talking about what this was like, like deciding to take a problem with him outside, disconnect from everything, but focus on the problem, right? He's moving his body, his brain is getting all this oxygen. I'm just like, that's like so easy and like obvious and like nobody does it. I'm like, really, I remember messaging him being like, you were always teaching me, like, I'm so grateful for you, right? And so I just, think that like,
There are times when I listen to entire albums and I don't listen to the playlist. It's a self-care routine for me to not have so many voices, different voices in different genres coming at me. It's tiny, right? But it's really, really important. There are seasons where I do deep, deep biblical verse mapping every night for 20 or 30 minutes. And it's a part of my self-care routine to draw kind of away from the chaos of the world and draw into the calm of my faith. And again, seasonal.
It's seasonal, you know, and that's like totally fine. Also, I will sink my sorrows and my joys in a hot cup of coffee. And to me, that is self care. I mean, Emily knows she's got me coffee for my birthday. She knows how I feel.
Dr. Kortni (43:02)
Do not mess with me and coffee. I tell you, the world is just a better place when I just take a sip. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is. It's just something magic. I can't even imagine a time when I'm like, coffee, who cares? I'm like, my God. Coffee, coffee, coffee, like Lorelai Gilmore and the Gilmore Girls. come on, come on. I love that, I love that.
Sam Ragland (43:06)
I'm telling you, it is a better place.
It is me.
He can now be friends.
Emily Ristow (43:22)
Yup.
Sam Ragland (43:24)
That's true.
Dr. Kortni (43:26)
of Emily, what else do you do outside of the walk? Because I love the fact that you're committed to, as Sam mentioned, movement.
Emily Ristow (43:38)
Yeah, I also run, so that is a somewhat new thing, but it's in the past, I don't know, three years that I think has been helpful. But I think sometimes I'll change up where I'm working from too.
Sam Ragland (43:43)
Good day to you.
Emily Ristow (43:51)
So there's a, I live in DC, not far from Union Market. So it's a food hall. So there's a lot of people like coming and going, a lot of different options, a lot of other people co-working from there. So that can be kind of a nice change of environment. And then I also, I think this is easier with in-person, but you can also do this on your own, but like kind of like interject a little bit of play in your day too. There's a colleague I had at the Journal Sentinel, Enrique Rodriguez, who was amazing at this.
and it can be like small things, but also like one thing that he and I did is like, made his one-on-ones, like we did a walk, like we walked to the Christmas tree and the one in December. know, cause that was just like that movement together to also help with the meetings. and the API office right now, we have a thousand piece puzzle that, Tricia Cantor and I had some other colleagues are like slowly chipping away at. So we do that, during lunch.
Dr. Kortni (44:41)
Wow.
Emily Ristow (44:43)
and I know other people are working on it because we were in the office two days a week and we come back and more of the puzzles been done. So someone else is in there, but it's just, you know, it's just like a thing that's, that's there. could just be like, you know, a nice, a nice little break and just like, have you thinking about something else, but like Sam said, you may be like still kind of solving that problem in the back of your mind too.
Dr. Kortni (45:04)
I love that. I love the puzzle. That is something that's really mindful, right? Just to kind of get out of your head and just be present on just putting together all these pieces. I really treasure that. And I treasure the both of you. So this is a question that I ask everyone. And I am doing this, as many of you have listened, because I love to see a collective or universal definition
or what it means for what that individual sees as a compassionate leader. So what does compassionate leadership mean to you? What is compassionate leadership to you?
Emily Ristow (45:43)
but yeah, I mean, I think in terms of compassionate leadership, I mean, I think you're, you're caring about others, which I think is, you know, that's something that might come to the forefront for folks. But I think the other part of that is you're really caring for yourself too. cause I think something we see a lot with folks who want to be,
Sam Ragland (45:43)
Thank you.
Emily Ristow (46:02)
servant leaders or want to really care for others is they don't think about themselves enough. I think that's a big part of it too, like making space for well-being, for people to pursue some passions, really helping people problem solve. I think all of those are pretty important characteristics. Sure, Sam will have others to add.
Sam Ragland (46:24)
Yeah, I love that. think that's an excellent answer. think when I think about compassion and what I have studied about it that I have found most fascinating is that people typically consider compassion and empathy to be synonyms for one another. that really, know, empathy is thinking about what is happening or how somebody is feeling and really situating yourself in the thoughts of that, not trying to feel somebody else's feelings.
Compassion is what happens when what you are thinking about somebody else's feelings drives you to act on their behalf. And so a compassionate leader is an active leader, right? Like you cannot, like if you are, if you were, I am a compassionate leader, then I want to see some movement receipts. What mountain did you move lately? What phone call did you set up? What hurdle did you remove, right? Like,
What did you acknowledge on behalf of somebody else? That's what I want to see when I think about compassionate leadership. You are moving on behalf of yourself, self-compassion, and you are behaving or acting on behalf of somebody else because there is a deep need there that you can be responsive to.
Dr. Kortni (47:34)
Wow, two powerful women,
Emily, Sam, Thank you so much for being a part of the Compassionate Newsroom podcast.
Dr. Kortni (47:45)
for tuning into the Compassionate Newsroom podcast. Together we can transform workplace wellbeing in news. If you found value in today's episode, please share it with a colleague to help foster a supportive environment in the industry. And don't forget to subscribe and also visit our website for more resources at thecompassionatenewsroom.com.
