ONA Weekly #353: How Newsroom Leaders Can Help Journalists Facing Online Harassment

How leaders can help journalists facing online harassment

Harassment of female journalists is nothing new, unfortunately, but online spaces bring new challenges. Recent columns in Vanity Fair and the Washington Post highlight the torrent of online abuse that female reporters often face, ranging from racist and sexist messages to death threats to attacks on their journalistic integrity.

Many newsroom leaders are at a loss for how to deal with this—and while solidarity on Twitter or a public statement supporting a reporter are appreciated, they’re not enough. In fact, “lack of institutional support” means that female journalists have created informal support groups on platforms such as Signal, WhatsApp and Slack.

So what do these reporters say would be useful?

Offer help with reputation management, said one reporter who didn’t want to have to discuss false claims against her in future job interviews
Acknowledge and respond to the specifically digital nature of the abuse—it’s not just comments on articles, it’s social media and emails and more; abuse evolves along with the online environment
Understand the cost this has for these women’s careers. One reporter said she had a media appearance canceled hours before recording because the network didn’t want to be associated with after the trolling, while another said that some conflict-averse companies won’t hire women who are being targeted

The International Women’s Media Foundation has launched the Coalition Against Online Violence, a digital hub that offers support and resources for journalists who have been targeted. It offers consultations, online courses and training workshops for newsrooms.

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Combating COVID-19 vaccine misinformation

New from ONA Community Circles: Our misinformation community circle has created a COVID-19 misinformation playbook full of explainers, guides and other resources (including a MOOC!). The playbook was facilitated by Fathm CEO and ONA board member Fergus Bell and Smitha Khorana, Data & Society’s newsroom outreach lead. Have more resources we should add to the hub? Or vaccine experts that journalists can turn to? Please submit your ideas (for resources and experts) by April 9.

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Power Shift Project’s Workplace Integrity Training

The Freedom Forum’s Power Shift Project has updated its Workplace Integrity curriculum with new content, to be delivered online. The goal is to produce workplaces free of harassment, discrimination and incivility, especially for those who have traditionally been vulnerable. Sign up here.

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Need inspiration for your ONA21 pitch?

Don’t forget that the suggestion box for ONA21 sessions is now open! For inspiration, here’s a list of past session ideas on topics ranging from stock photos to covering marginalized communities to philanthropy and the newsroom. And here are some helpful tips for crafting your idea. The deadline to submit your pitch is April 15, 2021. The conference takes place from June 22 to 25.

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Stat of the week

$10 million: That’s the amount that the Los Angeles Times received in a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan. As advertising revenues continue to dry up, newsroom leaders are looking for new revenue models, such as pooled journalism funds. Check out these conversations on Real Life Local News Revenue Experiments (That Aren’t Advertising) and New Iterations in News Philanthropy, both from ONA19.

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Important dates

April 15: Deadline to submit your session pitch for ONA21
June 21: ONA Career Day (Details to be announced)
June 22-25: 2021 Online News Association Conference (ONA21)

Note: All ONA events are currently happening online, and open to all regardless of where you’re located.

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Career opportunities

ONA’s Career Center is an excellent resource for jobs, fellowships and internships in digital journalism. Recent postings include:

Supervising Editor for Deals, The New York Times (Wirecutter)
Digital Content Manager, Blue Ridge Public Radio
Senior Project Manager for Audience Development, News Revenue Hub
Social Media Editor (Nights) and Platform Editor (Nights), The Wall Street Journal
News Producer and Digital Editor, The Seattle Times
Audience Editor, Deseret News
Part-Time Reporter (EdSurge), ISTE
President and Publisher, Ad Age

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On our radar

This newsroom wants to connect gun violence victims with help, Angela Fu for Poynter
New report on how to tackle infodemics, Full Fact
The mess at Medium, Casey Newton for Platformer
Covering the Atlanta massacre from inside the Korean community, Shinhee Kang for Columbia Journalism Review
Tips for fellow managers trying to help their employees, Celeste LeCompte, VP of Strategy and Operations at ProPublica and a speaker at our Women’s Leadership Accelerator, on Twitter

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P.S. from the ONA team

ONA Executive Director/CEO Irving Washington has been appointed vice chair of the board of the American Journalism Project, an initiative dedicated to rebuilding local news and creating sustainable business models.
ONA Communications Manager Karolle Rabarison presented on community engagement during long-term crisis at the 2021 Nonprofit Technology Conference, along with with other nonprofit communicators at the National Immigrant Justice Center and Article19.

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IMAGE CREDIT: Photo by Sergey Zolkin on Unsplash

Join as an ONA member or make a donation to help sustain ONA’s mission to inspire and support innovation in digital journalism. If you’re looking to promote an event, product, job opening or other opportunity, explore options to reach the ONA community.

We also rely on philanthropic and corporate support. Contact Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer Jessica Strelitz at jessica@journalists.org to learn about the many ways to invest in our mission.