Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.
The report, The Chilling: Global Trends in Online Violence against Women Journalists, launched as part of UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day event, is ground-breaking because of its size and scope. It records 73% of the women surveyed as having experienced online violence (including death and rape threats). Twenty percent of women journalists said they withdrew from social media interaction because of the threats and vilification from being called “witch”, “hag”, “whore”, “bitch”, and “presstitute” (“press” plus “prostitute”).
A team of 23 international researchers from 16 countries, led by Julie Posetti (global research director), Nabeelah Shabbir, Diana Maynard, Kalina Bontcheva and Nermine Aboulez wrote the 94-page report. (Disclosure: I led the Africa region research and the full book on the international study will be published in June 2021.)
11 May 2021 - Glenda Daniels
The online attacks on women journalists are bound to populist politics, disinformation and intersectional discrimination, says Unesco.
The report, The Chilling: Global Trends in Online Violence against Women Journalists, and themed “Information as a Public Good”, is ground-breaking because of its size and scope. It records 73% of the women surveyed as having experienced online violence (including death and rape threats). Twenty percent of women journalists said they withdrew from social media interaction because of the threats and vilification from being called “witch”, “hag”, “whore”, “bitch”, and “presstitute” (“press” plus “prostitute”).
A team of 23 international researchers from 16 countries, led by Julie Posetti (global research director), Nabeelah Shabbir, Diana Maynard, Kalina Bontcheva and Nermine Aboulez wrote the 94-page report. (Disclosure: I led the Africa region research and the full book on the internatio
Date Time
UNESCO releases pioneering discussion paper on online violence against women journalists
The 30 April online panel, moderated by Kenyan investigative journalist Catherine Gicheru, brought together celebrated journalists and experts to discuss the findings presented by ICFJ Global Director of Research Dr Julie Posetti (Australia).
The laureate of the 2021 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, Maria Ressa (CEO of Filipino news website Rappler), and the US NBC journalist Brandy Zadrozny, testified that the intense online harassment they recently went through was a response to their investigations into disinformation and populist networks.
The goal is to impose silence, to manufacture consensus and to seed metanarratives such as ‘this journalist is a criminal’… Tearing down my credibility is a way to attack the media I founded.
Date Time
Global trends in online violence against women journalists revealed by new report
University of Sheffield researchers contribute to new report on the increase of online violence against women journalists
Report reveals how these attacks are linked to disinformation, intersectional discrimination, and populist politics
Findings show how online attacks have real-life impacts and how social media and news organisations are still struggling to respond effectively
A new report highlighting a sharp increase in online violence against women journalists – featuring contributions from researchers at the University of Sheffield – has been published.
The pioneering UNESCO discussion paper reveals how these attacks are inextricably bound up with disinformation, intersectional discrimination, and populist politics.