Online Harassment of Women Journalists

Online Harassment Holds Women Journalists Back

For women journalists, being public and impactful figures often means that they face disproportionate amounts of online harassment for their work. A cross-cultural qualitative study interviewed women journalists from Germany, India, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and The United States found that women journalists across all five countries face specifically misogynistic online harassment, and that, as a result, many of them limit their online exposure or change what they report on, which limits their ability to engage with the subjects of their journalism and the general public. The research also found that the unwillingness of news organizations to take personal responsibility in combating harassment was further isolating.

Journalist Communities Can Counteract the Negative Impact of Harassment

Researchers in Finland interviewed 22 journalists and identified connective strategies that were most successful in protecting against the negative impacts of online harassment. They found that good interpersonal relationships with editors, collective efforts by journalists in newsrooms to support each other in staying calm in response to harassment, blog posts publicizing harassing messages, and peer support groups outside of the newsroom all helped journalists cope with harassment. Making the newsrooms institutionally and collectively responsive to online harassment can therefore help protect journalists, and especially women journalists.

Do you have a study we should share for a future Facty Friday? Send an email to drg.el@usaid.gov!