Document detail

The chilling: what more can news organisations do to combat gendered online violence?

UNESCO; International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) (2022), 42 pp.
" ... many newsroom reactions to gender-based online violence appear to have been non-existent, ad hoc, or inadequate. At times, they have even damaged the women journalists targeted. Large global news organisations sometimes identified as “best practice” exemplars by expert responders interviewed for this study were nevertheless criticised by the journalists interviewed in the course of the research with regard to their responses to the crisis. They were accused of failing to fully understand the gendered nature of the attacks, appreciate the serious psychological impacts, adapt to emerging and increasingly sophisticated threats, and provide effective and holistic support that recognises intersectional risks and hybrid security threats. A number of outlets were also criticised for insensitive and counterproductive victim-blaming and/or speech-restrictive behaviours. Many of the journalists interviewed for this study expressed exasperation and a sense of abandonment by their employers when they were in the midst of an online violence storm, even when there were credible threats of offline violence associated with these attacks. This was linked to gender-unaware policies, or those that had stagnated as a result of a failure to take account of increasing online toxicity and hostility towards journalists - especially on social media platforms - in the context of escalating disinformation, along with political polarisation and populism." (p.4)
Contents
What more can news organisations do? 4
1 Methodology and research context, 7
2 Hits and misses: Assessing newsroom responses to gendered online violence, 7
3 Newsroom leadership: failings, awakenings, and exemplars, 18
4 Guidelines for building on current good practice, 26
5 The role of intergovernmental and civil society organisations in facilitating newsroom responses, 36
6 Conclusion, 37
Recommendations for Action, 39