The Sound of (Almost) Silence: Newsroom Responses to Female Journalists’ Online Harassment
Manwaring, Laura E.
2022
-
Online harassment is an increasingly prevalent issue facing women today. For women for whom the online space is an extension of the workplace, such as female journalists, online harassment poses serious threats not only to women’s ability to fully pursue their profession, but also, to their ability to participate in public discourse. However, relatively little is known about how employers respond ... read moreto the online harassment their female employees encounter on the job. In this thesis, I draw on in-depth interviews with female journalists to explore the following: how do editors, newsroom leaders, and journalists (including female journalists) understand the online harassment suffered by female reporters, and what formal solutions or resources do news organizations offer? I find that although employer and industry imperatives leave female journalists little choice but to participate online, where they then encounter harm, newsroom responses to online harassment are inadequate in various ways. Left without adequate assistance from their employers, female journalists turn to personal solutions to manage their harassment, and these solutions are often harmful, not only to journalists, but also, to their news organizations and to the public. I conclude by discussing the troubling ramifications of female journalists’ online abuse for the quality of public discourse and journalism, and by offering concrete suggestions for how newsroom responses might be improved.
Thesis (B.A.)--Tufts University, 2022.
Submitted to the Dept. of Sociology.
Advisor: Sarah Sobieraj.read less - ID:
- 4f16ch20f
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
- Usage:
- Detailed Rights
