Archive and Ethics
The last decade has seen an unprecedented growth of archive-based film ranging from home video to police bodycam, promotional footage from cults and reconstructions of lives based on social media footage. This trend was amplified by the pandemic lockdown when crews could not travel. A large number of documentary films are now based on material no longer filmed by crews but taken from a variety of private or open sources.
ECJT’s Archive and Ethics project aims to explore the ethics that underpin the use of archive footage in news and video production. This is essential to arrive at a trauma-literate understanding of how to use such material.
The current phase of the project plans to produce ‘practitioner to practitioner guidance’ in documentary production based on interviews with archive producers and editors working on different documentary genres. The project seeks to assist documentary film makers, journalists, multi-media story tellers plus students of film and journalism.
Mindful Media Lab
ECJT is supporting the Mindful Media Lab based at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg.
The project aims to deepen the understanding of the mental strains faced by media professionals and to develop sustainable strategies for coping with them, through research, teaching, and social transfer.
Research
Research seeks to identify the need for support; tailored interventions will be developed and their effectiveness evaluated.
Teaching
The ability to handle mental stress – understood as mental health literacy – is considered a key leadership skill. The aim is to integrate this into on-campus and distance-learning degree programmes through targeted courses.
Transfer
Ongoing exchanges with newsrooms will be maintained through training sessions, consultation and dialogue. This will strengthen both individual resilience and support and accompany structural changes within media organisations.
The focus is on research and involving managers in journalism since stress is not only located at the individual level, but also at the organisational level. The Mindful Media Lab sees itself as a hub for pooling knowledge on the subject of mental health in journalism and helping to raise the profile of a topic which is too often taboo. The centre works together with other international universities and non-profit organisations such as Netzwerk Recherche in Germany.
Executive retreat for documentary film leaders
ECJT is preparing an executive retreat designed specifically for senior leaders working in documentary production.
The idea emerged from a series of industry roundtables held in 2025. These conversations brought together a cross-section of senior decision-makers including company owners, heads of production, executive producers, production executives and creative directors.
Although the roundtables were not originally designed to focus on leadership, the topic quickly emerged as a central issue. Participants described feeling underprepared and unsupported in dealing with the increasingly complex responsibilities placed upon them.
Senior leaders are operating in a rapidly changing and pressurised environment where:
- Competition for audiences and funding is at an all-time high
- Budgets and schedules are shrinking
- Mental health and wellbeing of production teams are an increasing concern
- Compliance, legal and ethical frameworks are becoming more complex
The challenge of leading responsibly within trauma-related documentary work has also begun to receive wider industry attention. At the 2025 Edinburgh TV Festival, the Film and TV Charity sponsored a session titled “The Show Must Go On – But Not at Any Cost”. During this discussion, the responsibility of senior leaders was highlighted; unresolved pressures and trauma within leadership structures can unintentionally be passed down through future generations of the industry.
These conversations reinforced the need for structured support and training for leaders themselves, not only for the wellbeing of individuals but for the health of the documentary ecosystem as a whole.
ECJT plans to bring together 10–12 industry leaders in a confidential and reflective setting, providing space away from daily operational pressures to explore the challenges of leading responsibly in the trauma space.
The retreat will allow participants to:
- Identify and articulate the current leadership challenges facing the documentary sector
- Develop a deeper understanding of trauma-informed leadership principles
- Explore practical approaches for supporting teams working with difficult subject matter
- Reflect on personal leadership practice and the risks of burnout and moral injury
- Collaboratively develop shared principles that can benefit the wider documentary community
Retreat-based learning has historically been a core element of the ECJT team’s work at a time when the organisation went under the name of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma. Participants consistently report that this immersive format allows for deeper reflection, stronger peer networks and meaningful behavioural change that cannot be achieved through traditional training models.