Being Public, Being Vulnerable: Toward a Research Agenda for Studying Journalistic Risk and Online Harassment

• In Event: When Authoritarianism Rattles Journalism’s Supposed Foundations

Abstract

In recent years, many journalists have been encouraged to be public on social media — to be active in promoting their work, engaging with audiences, and altogether expanding their reach online. This publicness, however, has come at a cost. Being more visible means being more vulnerable to online harassment. In extreme cases, this includes rape threats, doxxing, and smear campaigns. Amid the broader surge in anti-media and authoritarian politics, including efforts among far-right trolls to “meme Trump into the White House,” anecdotal evidence suggests that journalists may be facing growing threats of intimidation online. But quantifiable evidence on this question has been lacking thus far. In this presentation, I will outline results from a representative survey of U.S. journalists, describing the threats that journalists face and how they are responding. Building on these results, I will put forth a research agenda for studying journalistic risk in the social media era.

Author

• Seth C. Lewis, U of Oregon