Based on an extensive literature review, we suggest that ‘fake news’ alludes to two dimensions of political communication: the fake news genre (i.e. the deliberate creation of pseudojournalistic di...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23808985.2019.1602782

Fake news as a two-dimensional phenomenon: a framework and research agenda

Rising numbers of online attacks against journalists have been documented globally. Female, minority reporters and journalists who cover issues interwoven with right-wing identity anchors have been...

Mob Censorship: Online Harassment of US Journalists in Times of Digital Hate and Populism

Given both the historical legacy and the contemporary awareness about gender inequity in journalism and politics as well as the increasing importance of Twitter in political communication, this article considers whether the platform makes some of the existing gender bias against women in political journalism even worse. Using a framework that characterizes journalists’ Twitter behavior in terms of the dimensions of their peer-to-peer relationships and a comprehensive sample of permanently credentialed journalists for the U.S. Congress, substantial evidence of gender bias beyond existing inequities emerges. Most alarming is that male journalists amplify and engage male peers almost exclusively, while female journalists tend to engage most with each other. The significant support for claims of gender asymmetry as well as evidence of gender silos are findings that not only underscore the importance of further research but also suggest overarching consequences for the structure of contemporary political commu...

Twitter Makes It Worse: Political Journalists, Gendered Echo Chambers, and the Amplification of Gender Bias:

Amid growing threats to journalists around the world, this study examines the nature of online harassment, the types of journalists most likely to experience it, and the most common forms of respon...

Online Harassment and Its Implications for the Journalist–Audience Relationship

At a time of growing threats to the press worldwide, including in supposedly ‘safe’ developed democracies, this article explores the nature of harassment perpetrated by strangers, one-time sources,...

Journalists, harassment, and emotional labor: The case of women in on-air roles at US local television stations:

Previous studies of intimidation and harassment of journalists have (rightly) focused on non-democratic and authoritarian nations and/or transitional/emerging democracies. In this article, we examine the situation in Sweden, a country with strong de facto and de jure safeguards of journalistic freedom and autonomy. We report the findings from a representative survey of Swedish journalists where three themes are analysed: the extent of harassment, the forms of harassment, and the consequences of intimidation and harassment. The results show that a third of the respondents had experienced threats at work in the past year, and an overwhelming majority said they had received offensive and insulting comments. Intimidation and harassment also had consequences, both professionally and personally, such as fear and self-censorship. We therefore argue that it is time to add the dimension of external pressure and threats to the discussion of journalistic autonomy—including in countries like Sweden.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17512786.2016.1164614

Journalism Under Threat: Intimidation and harassment of Swedish journalists

Although many news organizations claim to be gender neutral, and are more often than not treated as such within research, organizations are indeed gendered. By analysing a Swedish broadcasting newsroom, this study shows how gender expectations were embedded in daily practice, in routines and rituals. Furthermore, the study highlights how daily practice and cultural meanings interact with the gendered division of labour in the newsroom.

Monica Löfgren Nilsson

Papers

Journalism Under Threat: Intimidation and harassment of Swedish journalists

“thinkings” and “doings” of gender

Journalism under threat : Intimidation and harassment of Swedish journalists