Editor’s Note: The National Press Club Journalism Institute is committed to providing journalists resources and connections that support their personal and professional lives. In 2025, we are collaborating with several groups to widen those networks of support. We invited Bill Nichols to share how the Journalists Recovery Network can help other journalists navigate recovery.
When I saw a story from the Poynter Center last year about the creation of the Journalists Recovery Network, I had two immediate reactions. It’s about time and how can I help? The brainchild of Taylor Six, the criminal justice reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader, JRN aims to fill a void that has plagued the field for decades and one that I’ve felt personally for nearly 40 years.
My story is no different than most recovering folks. I come from a family riddled with substance misuse issues and in the mid-1980s, those issues became insurmountable for me. Luckily, with the help of friends and family and journalist colleagues, I was able to find help and begin a recovery that has lasted, a day at a time, for more than 38 years.
The difference for me — and for other journalists facing similar challenges — is that I work in a field that has always put alcohol and, to a lesser degree other substances, at the center of its self-image. As a young journalist beginning my career in 1980 in Jackson, Mississippi, the rules of the road for alcohol that I learned were very clear.
Journalists drank to unwind. They drank to cultivate sources. They often drank at lunch. Alcohol was at the center of newsroom social events and national or regional conferences. Even worse, there was the alluring stereotype of the hard-drinking reporter, whose creativity was somehow fueled by alcohol.
I was lucky beyond measure in that I had editors and colleagues at USA Today, where I covered the White House and State Department, and at POLITICO, where I was the founding managing editor, who were tirelessly supportive and who got it when it came to recovery.
But many journalists weren’t and aren’t so lucky. And in today’s media landscape, with a relentless, punishing, 24/7 news cycle, constant social media demands and equally constant online abuse for pretty much anything you write, the need for healthy stress reduction habits and a support system for journalists who need help with substance misuse has never been greater.
That’s what JRN is looking to provide. We offer resources to find more information about alcoholism, other substance misuse conditions and pathways to recovery. We offer mentoring from other journalists at various stages of recovery who are ready to help.
We don’t pretend to have all the answers and aren’t affiliated with any 12-step program or specific recovery regime. But we can share what has worked for us, how our lives have changed, and how that has allowed us to do bigger and better things in the profession we love.
The romantic myth of the hard-drinking journalists is just that — a myth. JRN can help you learn about the gifts of recovery and offer hope. We’re here if you need us.
Tags: Self-care