{"id":22082,"date":"2019-06-18T12:45:33","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T17:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=22082"},"modified":"2019-06-18T12:51:46","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T17:51:46","slug":"wgn-reporter-says-job-gave-ptsd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2019\/06\/18\/wgn-reporter-says-job-gave-ptsd\/","title":{"rendered":"WGN reporter says job gave her PTSD"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Marcella Raymond<\/p><\/div>\n

After more than 20 years as a reporter for WGN-Channel 9,<\/a> Marcella Raymond says she\u2019s suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of her job.<\/p>\n

\u201cSharing my story is scary but I\u2019m hoping we can address the stigma of PTSD, show the warning signs, and get real,\u201d Raymond wrote in an introduction to her new Facebook blog, which she titled: \u201cI\u2019m a Chicago Journalist with PTSD.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

It's the price she says she's paying for decades of knocking on people's doors and shoving microphones in their faces at the worst times of their lives.<\/p>\n

\"I hate these stories,\" she recalls on her way to covering the latest murder in West Englewood. \"I\u2019m driving to the scene in the live truck with my photographer as I write this, trying not to cry, thinking if I should pop a valium to get me through the day.\"<\/p>\n

Bosses of the Tribune Broadcasting station expressed support for Raymond. \u201cMarcella is a valued member of the WGN news team and brings a great deal of compassion and context to the stories she covers,\" said Gary Weitman, senior vice president of corporate relations for Tribune Media. \"We will continue to work with Marcella to address her needs and ensure that she has the opportunity to do her best work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raymond, 53, who grew up in Downers Grove and graduated from Montini High School in Lombard and Columbia College in Chicago, joined WGN as a general assignment reporter and fill-in news anchor in 1998. She previously worked for stations in Dayton, Ohio, and Rockford.<\/p>\n

The last time Raymond\u00a0made headlines<\/a> was in 2016 when she posted a letter on Facebook that she'd received from a viewer criticizing her appearance. \"Please allow me to point out (with great respect) that you have gained too much weight,\" the unsigned letter said.<\/p>\n

Raymond replied: \u201cI\u2019m 50 years old, and I\u2019m not going to look like I did when I was 23. And I can\u2019t compete with those girls. And it\u2019s not feasible. I can\u2019t do it. I would spend my entire life doing that and I have other, better, more important things to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

She received an outpouring of support from viewers who condemned what they called body shaming.<\/p>\n

In 2006 Raymond was\u00a0convicted of misdemeanor battery <\/a>for\u00a0grabbing a woman's left middle finger in an\u00a0altercation over a parking space.\u00a0Raymond was upset at the woman for parking diagonally at a Glen Ellyn gas station and taking up two spots.<\/p>\n

Here is the text of Raymond\u2019s blog post:<\/strong><\/p>\n

SUNDAY JUNE 16, 2019 FATHER\u2019S DAY<\/em><\/p>\n

My two story choices for today: to try to get an interview, or \u201csound,\u201d with a Chicago firefighter who violently lost his son. He was stabbed to death in a car, the car set on fire, his body found outside the car. He was trying to get away. No one knows what happened yet. I did not want to do it. I mean that\u2019s cruel, and firefighters will hate us. I have many friends who are first responders. I can\u2019t see knocking on this family\u2019s door and asking for someone to talk to us. Father's Day is not the day to do this.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, now I\u2019m driving to another murder in West Englewood. A fifteen-year-old Simeon HS freshman had just finished playing basketball with friends. It wasn\u2019t even dark yet. They were on their way home when a car came out of an alley and started shooting. Six bullets casings were found. One, two, three\u2026 all with yellow markers with numbers over them. Why? Police aren\u2019t saying yet. Now I have to go talk to his grieving family about him. \u201cTell me what kind of kid he was.\u201d \u201cWhat was he doing last night when he was killed?\u201d \u201cDo you know what happened?\u201d \u201cAre there pictures you\u2019d like to share with us?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I hate these stories. I will go up to the door in West Englewood. There will probably be a ton of family members and friends sitting on the porch. I\u2019ll say, \u201cI\u2019m Marcella Raymond from WGN.\u201d They might know me they might not. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry to be here and bother you at this time. I\u2019m a mother too. I can\u2019t imagine what you must be going through. But I just wanted to see if you wanted to say a few things about Austin. I\u2019d like to tell your story.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m driving to the scene in the live truck with my photographer as I write this, trying not to cry, thinking if I should pop a valium to get me through the day. My therapist, a Chicago police officer who is thankfully off the street, counsels first responders. Firefighters, cops, FBI, ATF and DEA agents, 9-1-1 dispatchers. I\u2019m his first journalist. One of his partners killed herself. Another colleague died trying to save people from a man with a gun. He gets it. A few days ago, he gave me a breathing exercise to do; one hand on my stomach, the other on my heart. Breathe in for four seconds, hold it for four, breathe out for four. I decide to just breathe for now.<\/em><\/p>\n

My photographer asks me if I\u2019m okay. I start to cry, tell him I\u2019ve been diagnosed with PTSD and that this day is gonna suck. He understands.<\/em><\/p>\n

My \u201cproblem\u201d is I get too involved in my stories. I want to do justice to every innocent person who's been shot and killed, to every person killed in a fire, to every person killed in a car crash or walking across the street or standing at a bus stop or on the EL. That\u2019s why I do it; to let the family know I care, to tell their story more than about just the horrible death of their child. I can\u2019t be a bystander looking in. I have to jump in with my whole body. But at what cost to me?<\/em><\/p>\n

We get to the street where Austin was killed, 68th and Bell. His mother is too distraught to talk. His stepfather, Charles Smith, says he will. When the shooting started, everyone ran in different directions to get away from the bullets. Austin instinctively kept running down the alley, just houses from his home, when he was shot in the back. Mr. Smith says even if there are hundreds of cops in this neighborhood, it would still happen. He says danger is lurking everywhere. I ask if I can give him a hug. He accepts.<\/em><\/p>\n

Stay safe out there. Talk soon.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After more than 20 years as a reporter for WGN-Channel 9, Marcella Raymond says she\u2019s suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of her job. \u201cSharing my story is scary but I\u2019m hoping we can address the stigma of PTSD, show the warning signs, and get real,\u201d Raymond wrote in an introduction to her new Facebook... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22082"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22082"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22091,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22082\/revisions\/22091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}