Veteran journalist and newsroom wellbeing pioneer Leona O’Neill quits academia after six years to lead MediaStrong full-time — with CNN and Sky News now backing her annual conference.
By Imran Malik | Media Industry Desk | MediaBites.com.pk
One of journalism’s most respected voices in mental health and newsroom wellbeing has made a bold career move — and the global media industry is paying attention.
Leona O’Neill, founder and director of MediaStrong, has announced she is leaving her academic post at Ulster University after six years to dedicate herself entirely to her growing international organisation. The announcement, made on LinkedIn, has drawn widespread attention from journalists, editors, and media educators worldwide.
Who Is Leona O’Neill?
O’Neill is not a theorist writing about journalism from the outside. She is a battle-hardened industry veteran who has lived the story she now helps others survive.
Her career spans decades as a working news journalist, newspaper columnist, and field producer for some of the world’s most demanding international outlets — Al Jazeera, Vice, and ABC among them. She is also a published author represented by agent Lisa Moylett at CMM Agency, London.
That frontline experience is precisely what gives her MediaStrong work its credibility and urgency.
What Is MediaStrong — And Why Does It Matter?
MediaStrong began as an idea driven by passion to change newsroom culture. It has since grown into an international organisation providing consultancy, training, resources, and events focused on three critical areas: newsroom mental health, trauma awareness, and psychological safety in journalism and media education.
The scale of its impact is now hard to ignore. This year’s annual MediaStrong Conference, held at City St George’s, University of London, is supported by two of the world’s most prominent broadcasters — Sky News and CNN. The event brings together leading journalists, editors, educators, and mental health professionals to advance conversations the industry has avoided for far too long.
Six Years of Teaching — A Bittersweet Farewell
O’Neill described leaving Ulster University as “bittersweet.” In her LinkedIn announcement, she said supporting students as they found their confidence, voice, and place in the industry brought her “enormous joy.”
“I hope they know how deeply I cared about them and their futures,” she wrote.
That same sense of care, she added, is what drives MediaStrong — and why the work now demands her full attention.
What She Has Already Built
The list of what O’Neill has delivered through MediaStrong is substantial. She has developed and delivered successful newsroom mental health training programmes reaching everyone from frontline floor staff to HR teams to senior newsroom leaders.
She has equipped newsrooms with practical resources, including audits, working toolkits, and crucially — the language to discuss what she describes as “a taboo subject for far too long.”
Perhaps most significantly, she has developed a groundbreaking MediaStrong curriculum — a 12-week, university-ready programme complete with student and lecturer resources and train-the-trainer sessions — that fully equips journalism students with the knowledge to stay well in intense newsroom environments.
What Comes Next — A Global Expansion
With full-time focus now locked in, O’Neill has set her sights on international growth. Her next chapter includes expanded newsroom consultancy, university partnerships, guest lecturing, speaking engagements, and deeper collaboration with journalism and media organisations worldwide.
She is actively seeking connections with newsrooms, universities, editors, and journalism organisations interested in this work.
A New Chapter for Global Journalism Wellbeing
O’Neill closed her announcement with characteristic directness: “This crucial issue deserves that. A new chapter begins. Adventure awaits. Onwards.”
For a global media industry still grappling with the human cost of the news business, having one of its most credible advocates working full-time on solutions is not just welcome — it is necessary.
Team MediaBites wish Leona O’Neill all the best of luck in all of her future endeavours.
