Survival in the Passion Economy: Mental Health and Well-Being of Local Journalism Entrepreneurs

Abstract

This study investigates the mental health and well-being of local journalism entrepreneurs in the UK context. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 57 journalists in 2020 and 2021, 10 in 2022 and 7 in 2023, the paper focuses on key trade-offs that shape the experiences of local news entrepreneurs. First, these journalists experience their work as meaningful and rewarding, but at the same time it requires significant financial and lifestyle sacrifices. Second, while they enjoy the autonomy associated with their work, some experience challenges due to loneliness and isolation. As such, local journalism entrepreneurs constitute a particular manifestation of workers in the “passion economy”: While they are making significant material sacrifices and experience financial precarity, their passion is informed by their embeddedness in the community. The paper ultimately underscores the importance of problematizing the passion economy in relation to both professionals’ mental health and well-being and an analysis of the systemic and structural causes of stresses and sacrifices.