"This second volume focuses on primary trauma experienced by journalists, with a particular focus on the gendered dimensions, as shared by female journalists and researchers. By focusing on female journalists’ firsthand encounters, the book explores the complex psychological, emotional, and profes
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sional challenges they face both inside and outside the newsroom. The chapters deal with specific issues relating to sexual harassment, online threats, risks and vulnerabilities, and physical and psychological violence experienced by journalists in various sub-Saharan African countries. In addition, the book explores the coping mechanisms employed by journalists in the field; thereby contributing to ongoing discussion on how to support media professionals navigating challenging newsrooms and journalistic roles in Africa and beyond. Chikezie E. Uzuegbunam is Deputy Head of School for Teaching and Research, senior lecturer in Media Studies, and Master’s programme coordinator in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, South Africa. His latest book is Children and Young People’s Digital Lifeworlds: Domestication, Mediation, and Agency published in 2024 by Palgrave Macmillan under the book series of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). Kealeboga Aiseng is a senior lecturer in the Department of Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. His books include Sociolinguistics of South African Television: Language Ideologies in Selected Case Studies, Political Economy of African Popular Culture: Political Interplay (co-edited), Public Health Communication Challenges to Minority and Indigenous Communities (co-edited), and Social Media and Gender in Africa: Discourses and Politics of Everyday Life (co-edited)." (Publisher description)
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"Online harassment of journalists is increasingly becoming a global phenomenon. Many attempts have been made to investigate the prevalence of the phenomenon. Unfortunately, findings prove that online harassment of journalists is indeed on the rise. What is lacking, so far, in the literature is an in
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quiry conducted from the perspective of journalists on why they are targeted. This study attempts to shine a light on this question. This we did by examining Nigerian journalists’ perceived motivations for the online harassment that they experience and their suggested ways of controlling the phenomenon. Through online and face-to-face semistructured interviews of 30 journalists in Nigeria, we show that journalists in Nigeria believe that audience perceived journalistic wrongdoing and unethical behaviour, and polarization of politics in Nigeria are the chief reasons their audience harass them online. We further uncover that journalists suggested preventative measures, such as media sensitization campaigns about online harassment and political polarization, procedural, and prosecutorial measures such as improved security, ensuring adequate punishment for offenders, provision of security and enacting safety laws for journalists as avenues through which online harassment of journalists can be controlled. We then delineate the practical implications of the study." (Abstract)
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"This study investigates the motivations for the hostility towards the press by the audience and how to control online harassment of journalists in Nigeria. Data for this study are from online and face-to-face semi-structured interviews of 54 Nigerians in Nigeria. Finding shows that perceived journa
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listic malpractice and unethical behaviour motivate Nigerians to engage in online harassment of journalists in Nigeria. The study also uncovers what the audience in Nigeria offer as preventive measures to online harassment of journalists. These include (i) improved transparency, (ii) improved ethical conduct by journalists, and (iii) procedural and prosecutorial measures (e.g. implementation of a robust professional code of conduct and enacting safety laws for journalists) as ways of eradicating online harassment of journalists in Nigeria. Suggestions for future research areas were delineated." (Abstract)
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