The Cost of the Story: Black Alder Report Finds Journalism’s Crisis is Human, Not Just Financial

By Black By God – The West Virginian

Why It Matters for Appalachia

In Appalachia, we know the cost of extractive reporting firsthand. Too often, our communities have been flattened into stereotypes, our grief sensationalized, and our resilience ignored.

This new report by Black Alder, a narrative strategy firm co-founded by sisters Chelsea G. Fuller and Takara T. Pierce, shows that this harm is not isolated to us — it is a national crisis. But the lessons hit home here, where legacies of erasure and exploitation make trauma-informed journalism not an option, but a necessity.

And the West Virginia connections run deep. Chelsea and Takara are the daughters of Dr. Marjorie Fuller, who, until her retirement in 2023, directed the WVU Center for Black Culture and Research (CBC&R). For over 15 years, Dr. Fuller nurtured Black student life, built cultural bridges, and fought for visibility on campus. Her daughters now extend that legacy, leading national work at the intersection of journalism, trauma, and justice.

The research also draws on the guidance of Dana Coester at WVU’s College of Creative Arts and Media, whose decades of work at the crossroads of journalism and social movements shaped the foundation of this study.

At Black By God, we recognize these same truths in our own reporting: when we publish stories we’re not just covering events — we’re navigating trauma, trust, and the responsibility to our people, we hope to bring accurate information and joy. 

A Human Crisis, Not Just a Financial One

The report, The Cost of the Story, reveals that journalism’s crisis is not just financial or political — it is deeply human. The research combines the Take Care national survey of journalists with in-depth interviews and focus groups with survivors, organizers, and media professionals.

The findings are stark:

• 79.4% of journalists reported mild to moderate stress.
• 74.1% reported anxiety.
• 75.3% had never accessed professional mental health support.

One journalist put it plainly: “I don’t trust my newsroom to hold space for what I’m carrying.”

When Trauma Isn’t Named, Harm Echoes

Fewer than 13% of journalists surveyed had trauma-informed training, and fewer than 25% had access to debriefing after traumatic assignments.

As the report states:

“When trauma is not named, it is not addressed. And when it is not addressed, it continues. It repeats itself on the page, in the field, and in the body.”

This truth resonates in Appalachia. Communities here often feel abandoned after coverage, left to deal with the fallout of being put under a national microscope. At BBG, we’ve heard it from neighbors directly: they want reporters who follow up, who ask not only what happened but also what healing looks like.

Narrative Power Is Not Neutral

The report reminds us that narrative power determines who is seen, who is believed, and what the public imagines as possible.

“Journalists are not outside the story, they are part of it. Their choices shape how movements are understood and how harm is remembered. Narrative power can reinforce fear or help communities build toward freedom.”

This has been central to Black By God’s mission from the beginning. We believe that journalism rooted in Black Appalachian experiences shifts what is possible. Our reporting has shown that dignity, depth, and joy belong alongside struggle — and that telling the whole story is itself an act of resistance.

The report offers clear steps for newsrooms, schools, funders, and communities — from embedding trauma theory into journalism education to investing in long-term, care-centered reporting.

For Appalachia, this message is urgent. We’ve lived what happens when outside reporters flatten us into caricatures — and we’ve also seen what happens when our own people tell our stories with care. If news is truly supposed to serve the people, then it should feel like something we can survive — not something we have to protect ourselves from. That is the journalism our communities deserve.