From Bystander to Witness: Transforming Global Media, with James Scurry

Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J’aime Rothbard.

In Pocket Project Global Social Witnessing calls, we come together in community to mindfully attune to global crises we’ve learned about through the news. But what happens when we make the people and systems delivering that news our focus? What can we learn about both the media’s capacity for courageous truth-telling and its potential to amplify collective and inter-generational trauma loops from the past? 

This episode features James Scurry, a  senior producer at Sky News, psychotherapist and co-convener of MediaStrong, an annual symposium convening senior industry figures to host cutting-edge conversations on journalism and trauma. 

James was joined by What Is Collective Healing? co-host Matthew Green, himself a former international journalist, to reflect on what they learned by serving as the focal points at a January 7 Global Social Witnessing call where more than 160 people from around the world gathered to witness the global media. 

James speaks candidly about recognising the increasingly unbearable toll that serving as a video editor handling horrific footage from war zones was having on his nervous system. That experience ultimately led him to train as a psychotherapist and put what he learned about himself at the service of helping others – including his colleagues in the media.

James and Matthew also reflect on both the magnetic attraction of working in global media organisations, their colleagues’ inspiring level of commitment to accuracy and craft, and the enormous pressures journalists and editors now face.

With several current and former journalists having attended the Global Social Witnessing call, James and Mathew imagine bringing collective healing practices into the heart of the global news industry. How might journalists benefit from collective healing work? And how might such processes lead to more emotionally intelligent storytelling – laying the foundations of the trauma-restoring media systems of the future?

You can find out more about James’ work at James Scurry and Safely Held Spaces.

Applications Open: The Pocket Project is offering 48 Integration Labs in 2026, each dedicated to exploring and addressing specific dimensions of ancestral and collective trauma. To access a complete list of the Labs and to apply to participate, click here. (Registration closes on 20 January, 2026). 

Further Resources:  

James Scurry

Safely Held Spaces

Story on James Scurry by JournalismUK

MediaStrong

MediaStrong (LinkedIn)

MediaStrong Membership

Matthew Green’s writing on trauma-restoring media

Integration Labs 2026

About James Scurry

James Scurry is an accredited psychotherapist based in London and the co-founder of Safely Held Spaces, which provides compassionate support to families of people experiencing mental and emotional distress.

He is also a journalist and Senior Producer at Sky News and, for the past two years, has co-organised MediaStrong, one of the UK’s largest mental health symposiums for journalists.

James has a particular interest in the role of spirituality in mental health care and completed teacher training in Berkeley, California, at the Nyingma Institute in Kum Nye, an ancient Tibetan movement practice, which he integrates into his work with journalists, veterans, police officers, and first responders who have experienced trauma.