"This study explores journalism students’ responses to hazards and hostility in the profession within a Safety of Journalists course. The research uses focus group interviews, field notes, study diaries, written tasks, and Teams’ chat logs of 11 students. Students’ reactions to the hazards hig ... hlight the importance of awareness for finding solutions and developing resilience. Proposed solutions include fostering self-assurance, enhancing interpersonal communication, setting boundaries to prevent burnout, and recognizing the significance of workers’ rights. However, finding some solutions was hindered by students’ experiences of media organizations neglecting worker well-being." (Abstract) more

"Our study describes how hostility reaches journalists and their reactions to the experiences. Semi-structured interviews with 18 Estonian journalists were conducted in 2021 from June to December. We divided journalists’ experiences into personal, professional, and organizational domains. One key ... observation is that journalists cannot avoid work-related hostility, even when off-duty. In addition, as one journalist receives hostility in a myriad of ways, there is a necessity for a multilevel approach when teaching about coping with or preventing unnecessary hostility from reaching journalists. Our mapping can be used when preparing students for occupational hazards or developing journalism curricula." (Abstract) more

"Research shows that emotional management is often part of journalists’ decision-making in the news creation process and when dealing with attacks, insults, or harassment, which we describe by the umbrella term hostility. Some emotional management strategies can lead journalists to self-censorship ... or to mental health problems when they do not recognise and deal with emotions. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate how journalists react to hostility against them by using emotional coping strategies and emotional management. We carried out 18 semi-structured interviews with news journalists in Estonia from June 2021 to December 2021. The results showed that although hostility is a part of journalists’ everyday work-life, many lack a strategy to deal with it. We can say that there are three types of perceptions and reactions: (1) the thick-skinned journalist who does not see problems with hostility and, therefore, does not take any action against receiving the hostility. (2) The pragmatically conformist journalist who sometimes sees problems with hostility and believes the solution is to grow a thicker skin. (3) The journalist who is not a punching bag and sees a problem in being constantly bombarded by hostility, most of whom seek protection from it or help to fight against it." (Abstract) more

"The aim of the study is to investigate Estonian female journalists’ experiences with harassment resulting in self-censorship. We carried out three studies: one in 2015, a second in 2016 and a third one in 2018. The data were gathered by in-depth interviews (2015 and 2018), journalists’ diaries ... (2015) and a questionnaire (2016). The sample consisted of eight sports journalists (2015), 12 female journalists from different fields (2018) and 181 respondents (115 female, 66 male, 2016). The results of the three studies revealed that comments made towards female journalists aimed at degrading their authority (emphasizing age, experience or gender); and argued that female journalists should work elsewhere or find a more “female” profession. Female journalists did not read comments on their stories not only because of the lack of time, but to avoid harassment and insults. Secondly, to avoid harassment from sources or audiences, journalists showed signs of self-censorship as they avoided writing on topics that bring along more attention, such as refugees, minority groups, and corruption cases, or avoided writing on topics that include sources with whom they have had negative experiences." (Abstract) more