"Gender-based violence against women journalists has increased dramatically, both offline and online. These professionals face more barriers to performing their roles in safe conditions. Slow progress has been made by governments and news media industries to protect women journalists. Most of the pr
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ogressive actions to address this widespread problem have been achieved by journalists, non-government organizations (NGOs), and scholars. Thanks to the work done by these actors, violence against women journalists has been unveiled and caught the attention of human rights courts. Grounded in both communication studies and feminist theory, this chapter analyzes the structural conditions enabling gender-based violence against women journalists in Latin America to explore how it affects the collective right to freedom of expression and to consider responses to this crisis from activist movements." (Abstract)
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"The literature on public figures attacked by their audiences is unclear why female and male figures react differently to attacks. This study examines why female journalists are more likely than male journalists to use avoidance strategies as a reaction to online attacks. Avoidance includes limiting
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audience engagement, adapting reporting behavior, and thinking about quitting journalism. Drawing on social role theory and gender stereotypes, this study contrasts two explanatory hypotheses. The results, based on mediation analyses of online survey data of 637 journalists representative of Switzerland, show that women are more likely than men to use avoidance strategies because women are more stressed by attacks. This heightened stress is argued to result from differences in gender role socialization. In contrast, while women are somewhat more severely attacked than men, this cannot explain their greater probability of avoidance. Results contribute a theoretically and empirically rich explanation of gendered reactions to attacks." (Abstract)
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"Across time, in a variety of forms and spaces -from homes and workplaces to digital domains of social media- women have become victims of male dominance. So also are the other vulnerable sections that suffer multi-layered abuse, and endure sexual harassment in social media. Yet, this phenomenon is
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insufficiently explored. Therefore, this article argues that social media spaces have become domains for sexual harassment and subjugation of women. This article examines gender-trolling on Twitter as a form of sexual violence against women. Employing qualitative analyses of the Twitter conversations on Indian journalists, namely Barkha Dutt, Sagarika Ghose, and Rana Ayyub, it exposes the nature and form of sexual violence against women on the micro-blogging space, and argues that social media platforms constitute convenient havens of harassment against assertive women." (Abstract)
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"This article presents findings from investigations of acclaimed gender employment changes in Israeli journalism, focusing on two main questions: Is the feminisation process of Israeli journalism continuing? Is it improving women’s employment and occupational status? Data were gathered from two in
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ternational surveys that included Israel. The study found that while women are integrated in a variety of news areas, such as news presentation, and play a significant role in management, their roles and salaries are unequal to men. These findings shed light on gender (in)equality and identify some of the mechanisms that exclude Israeli women from the labour market." (Abstract)
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"It is crucial that any initiatives focussing on the safety of women journalists exist within the broader framework of conversations aimed at meeting the specific targets of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, and recognize that much
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of the violence that women journalists face stems from more deeply rooted gender-based discrimination and inequality in the media industry, and society at large." (Introduction, page 77)
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"For women journalists, online harassment may result in emotional stress and may require legal and technological remedies to mitigate the damage caused to their identity and reputation. Perpetrators can use a combination of online and offline attacks that threaten the employment and safety of journa
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lists. In the case of women writers, misogynistic and racist attacks can create a chilling effect that silences their voices online and creates a deterrent to freedom of expression that ultimately erodes the freedom of the press. Based on the examination of seminal work, case studies and personal anecdotes, this chapter investigates the consequences of abuse via Twitter and Facebook on the freedom of speech, the emotional and psychological impact on women journalists, and its implications on press freedom. Moreover, before suggesting digital defense strategies for journalists, the chapter also chronicles the development of TrollBusters, a platform for women journalists that counters online hate with positive messaging and just-in-time rescue services." (Abstract)
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"While many reporters regularly experience online violence, women journalists are more likely than their male counterparts to be targeted for abusive comments and image focused, violently sexualised aggression. With such gendered violence having serious implications for media freedom, diversity and
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equity, as well as participation online, it is imperative that digital safety initiatives address the specificity and diversity of online attacks on women journalists and in ways that address the structural factors underpinning them – that is, going beyond an emphasis on individual responsibility. This paper analyses the gender-specific digital safety strategies proposed for women journalists by international anti-violence projects and how they address the responsibility for acting on gendered online attacks. It evaluates the emphasis safety training packages put on promotional, preventative, procedural, or prosecutorial measures and on individual, collective or networked and managerial approaches to these attacks. Drawing on a feminist “ethics of care”, the paper argues that gendered online violence needs to be tackled as a multilevel online governance issue rather than just a personal safety issue, with better support from peers, employers and legal and political institutions." (Abstract)
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"1,010 journalists have been killed in the last decade, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, with nine out of 10 cases remaining unresolved (Guterres, 2018). Imprisonments alone total more than three times the annual death toll, and the number of journalists in jail across the globe i
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n 2017 hit a new record (Beiser, 2017). Yet, while men represent the majority of those killed and detained, the percentage of women killed in the last five years has more than tripled from 4 per cent of total deaths in 2012, to 14 per cent in 2017 (UNESCO, 2018a). Reports by Reporters Sans Frontieres (2018) and the International Women's Media Association (Barton and Storm, 2016) tell us many more women have been attacked, detained or threatened." (Abstract)
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"This chapter focuses on gender dynamics in media safety in Nigeria. It critically examines the safety challenges journalists in Nigeria face in executing their duties in a country that has experienced different forms of conflicts, ranging from political instability, organized crime, terrorism, and
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communal conflict. It analyses these challenges in relation to gender. To achieve this, the researcher made use of primary data generated from interviews with journalists. The chapter discloses issues of gender-based discrimination, sexual and violent harassment, abuse at work and outside work, murder, and unwarranted arrest and intimidation, showing they are among the challenges journalists face. It identifies some gender-specific safety concerns among the journalists interviewed. Importantly, it finds that safety challenges such as sexual harassment are hardly reported and when reported, they are usually trivialized, most times re-shaming the victim(s) and causing the victim to shy away from reporting future occurrences." (Abstract)
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"This research examines the everyday sexism and workplace sex discrimination experienced by women journalists in India. Nearly all of the popular and scholarly attention to the experiences of Indian women journalists has focused on high profile instances of rape and sexual assault. But this focus on
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highly egregious, dramatic stories deflects attention from ongoing global structural problems as well as ongoing sexism and gender discrimination in journalism. Interviews with Indian women journalists indicate a concern with everyday sexism and discriminatory practices at the hands of sources, colleagues, and editors. Additionally, women journalists are not confident that newsrooms will become less toxic for women any time soon. They describe legal guidelines designed to protect women as ineffective and rarely implemented. We ground our understanding of sexual harassment in theories about the politics and power of women but also connect the persistence of these sexist practices--and women's powerlessness to prevent them--to the growing casualization of the journalism workforce in India. The precarity of the journalism industry leaves women vulnerable but reluctant to complain." (Abstract)
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"A journalist is a person who involves in activities such as writing/ reporting for newspapers, magazines or on news websites in order to be published/ broadcasted. The journalists have social responsibility i.e. objective reporting. Media is the "Fourth Estate" and journalists are the watchdogs of
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society. In order to carry out the healthy practice of journalism the journalists need to be free and the circumstances need to be safe. Journalist safety is the most important aspect of press freedom. The other question that arises time and again is about the representation of women in Media. Even the concept of gender inequality might have changed over the course of time and the representation of women is still minimal. Women have not gained parity with men in terms of participation and decision making." (Abstract)
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"The article addresses in what way gender matters when dealing with war – and peace journalism. Issues discussed are to what extent the experiences of male and female reporters differ when they cover stories from the front line, especially regarding safety and working conditions. One important que
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stion is whether the increased presence of women in the frontline might be indicative of a change in war storylines. Are the stories framed differently dependent on the gender of the reporter? Will women’s perspectives allow for greater engagement with the lives of the victims of war rather than its technical and strategic aspects? The article also addresses how gender perspectives can contribute new ideas on peace journalism and even challenge our understanding of Johan Galtung’s theory." (Abstract)
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"In March 2006, socialist politician Michelle Bachelet became not only the first woman to assume the presidency of Chile, but also the first female president in South America. Bachelet appointed a cabinet with an equal number of men and women. Although there were several other changes to her cabinet
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as well, hers was significant for being the only government since the country’s return to democracy that established equal representation of female and male ministers (Fernández and Rubilar 2011). Bachelet’s rise to power was a milestone in the fight for equal rights among men and women in Chile, a movement which began toward the end of the 19th century and continued throughout the 20th, with Chile’s first wave of feminism and women’s demands for access to education and the right to vote (Kirkwood 1986). Despite this longstanding movement and the gender milestone represented by her presidency, Bachelet did not fundamentally change the participation of women in positions of political power." (Abstract)
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"The chapter takes as its starting point the notion that journalists’ safety is a precondition for free expression and free media. Based on interviews and discussions with experienced female war and conflict journalists from seven countries worldwide, the discussion evolves around questions linked
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to what particular challenges and opportunities women journalists face, and how their security can best be ensured when covering war and conflict zones. The deliberations are believed to have a direct bearing on debates about female journalists’ safety online and offline, the importance of the presence of female journalists covering wars and conflicts, and how their being there may serve as an indicator of freedom of expression, civil rights and media freedom in general." (Abstract)
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"Are female journalists more at risk in covering conflict than their male colleagues? Beck states ‘risk is the anticipation of the catastrophe – so it is existent and non-existent’. Is the contention that female journalists are more at risk, knowledge, or a construction of knowledge? Are Edito
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rs and journalists who decide that women are more at risk merely anticipating a catastrophe? There is no certainty that women would be more at risk, but the fear that women are more at risk can prevent them from being sent to cover conflict, or force them to decide not to go to dangerous places. It is not possible to say with certainty that women journalists are targeted because they are women or because they are journalists. An IED or rocket fire does not distinguish between sexes. In many situations being female actually helps women journalist in conflict zones. In this paper we conduct a survey of journalists who work in conflict zones and ask whether it is the job or the gender which is the most dangerous. The question of whether it is more dangerous to be a woman might be debatable, but the survey shows that sexual harassment is a concern for female journalists." (Abstract)
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"This chapter will analyze women’s access to and participation in Mexico’s news media. At the intersections of feminism and the political economy of communication, we will put into context the findings for Mexico in the Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media (Global Report) (Byer
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ly 2011). Our purpose is to establish that the access and participation of women in Mexico’s news media are (a) identified by gender inequality, (b) subject to a structural problem and not just an accident or a circumstance exclusive of one industry, (c) marked by structural inequality, i.e., the higher the position, the wider the gap of gender inequality, and (d) defined by a gender division of labor that is a feature of the incorporation of women to these industries." (Abstract)
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"Any assessment of women journalists’ status in their newsrooms should begin with the big picture. Women professionals inside news and other media enterprises have been the torchbearers of change for at least three decades. Sometimes assisted by enlightened male allies, women in journalism and oth
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er media professions have worked individually and through organized groups to reverse patterns of workplace discrimination, to train both women and men to be more gender sensitive in their work, to expand content about women, and to otherwise put newsmaking more squarely in the service of women. These activities have been carried on while the structure and nature of the news industry changed around them, and while a range of other factors have provided the context within which they have strived to enter, work and advance." (Abstract)
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"Female journalists’ experiences of sexual harassment are barely documented in the literature about Australian news journalism despite evidence of its ongoing prevalence. There have been some stories of harassment detailed in autobiographies by female journalists and the occasional article in the
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mainstream media about individual incidents, but it wasn’t until 1996 that a union survey provided statistical evidence of an industry-wide problem. That Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance survey found that more than half of the 368 female participants had experienced sexual harassment at work. In 2012, I conducted the largest survey of female journalists in Australia finding that there was an increased number of respondents who had experienced sexual harassment in their workplaces. In a bid to better understand female journalists’ experiences of sexual harassment, this paper analyses written comments made by survey participants in relation to key questions about harassment. It finds that most downplay its seriousness and do not make formal reports because they fear victimisation or retaliation. As a consequence, a culture of secrecy hides a major industry problem where many women believe they should work it out themselves and that harassment is the price they have to pay for working in a male-dominated industry." (Abstract)
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"This feminist, qualitative study sheds light on how young Arab women used cyberactivism to participate in the wave of political and social transformations widely known as the Arab Spring. It argues that these activists leveraged social media to enact new forms of leadership, agency, and empowerment
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, since these online platforms enabled them to express themselves freely and their voices to be heard by the rest of the world, particularly the global media. This resulted in a multidimensional personal, social, political, and communicative revolution. This study is based on in-depth, personal interviews with more than twenty young Arab women citizen journalists, bloggers, and activists from Arab countries that witnessed political upheaval." (Abstract)
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"Any observer of the so-called Arab Spring, the massive wave of political revolt that has been sweeping the Arab region since 2011, could not help but notice the visible role that women have been playing in it. Hundreds of thousands of Arab women throughout the region, including in some of the most
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traditional, conservative countries, like Yemen and Bahrain, took to the streets, alongside men, calling for an end to dictatorship and repression and demanding dignity and freedom (Khamis 2011; Radsch 2011, 2012). In doing so, they were not confining themselves to stereotypical gender roles, such as nurturing or supporting men in their struggle for freedom. Rather, they were often in the front lines of resistance, risking their lives, exposed to the dangers of arrest or assault. The Arab Spring unveiled “numerous examples of courageous Arab women heroes risking not only their reputation but also their physical safety for the sake of reform” (Al-Malki et al. 2012: 81)." (Abstract)
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