When it comes to psychological pressure over her reporting, Ukrainian journalist Kateryna Sergatskova has experienced it all, both before and after the full-scale invasion of her country. She has been the object of online smear campaigns by pro-Kremlin sympathizers claiming she was a CIA agent and by ultranationalists calling her a Russian spy alike.
But reporters need not be living in a state under siege in order to feel the harrowing effects of internet harassment. And any modern newsroom needs to be prepared to support its staff during such moments. For Sergatskova, who led a panel discussion on keeping journalists safe and sane when under online and offline harassment, this meant the creation of an NGO for psychological support of journalists in times of crisis, the 2402 Foundation.
For Gavin Rees of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, the most basic principle is to never normalize receiving hate on the internet. “In the pre-internet era there was this assumption that journalists should be open to criticism as they are fighting on the public arena. This translated into the understanding that you are not a good journalist if you don’t have a massive Twitter following and don’t respond to all the questions you get there, and that not feeding the trolls is enough,” he says. The problem with this sort of thinking, however, is that it neglected the multiplier effect of social media – one hurtful comment can easily trigger an avalanche of hate. What is more, abusive language from the audience reporters are meant to serve could make them doubt why do they even toil in their work.
He has some practical tips for dealing with online harassment for everyone in the newsroom: website and social media moderators ought to consider what types of comments are helpful for maintaining a civilized discussion, nourish them through a ranking system and delete the ones that prompt personal attacks against reporters. Editors need to show solidarity with their reporters, like doing something as little as dropping them a letter of support when they see them singled out. As for journalists themselves – they should take back control by reconsidering how they look at hateful comments – not as expressions of some universal public dismissal of their work, but as the writings of single individuals.
This humanization of the trolls is something that Alexei Lazarov, former editor-in-chief of Bulgaria’s Capital weekly, had personally tried. He shared his story of personally approaching one of the commentators on his media’s online forum. “I found out one person who sounded extreme online, but seemed otherwise normal. I called him and he said he had a very difficult day, he has the feeling that his life is falling apart.” While this shortening of the distance might seem a healthy approach, however, it ought to be done very cautiously – in the end, not all trolls are benign overworked people.
Last, but not least, newsrooms ought to take into account the disproportionate toll online harassment might have on women. Mexican producer and academic Dr. Luisa Ortiz Perez underlines that while all journalists are prone to attacks and attempts to humiliate them, feminized bodies automatically become the focus of online harassers’ attention, who make their physical features and social roles the center of abuse. Her solution has been the creation of a helpline for female journalists to help them release the steam at times of stress and harassment.
