Female Investigative Journalists: Overcoming Threats, Intimidation, and Violence with Gendered Strategies

Abstract

During the past two decades, numerous investigative journalist networks have emerged globally, through which journalists from different places and cultures collaborate. In this article, we focus specifically on the experiences of female investigative journalists and the ways in which they navigate challenges of intimidation, threats, and violence and adapt to stay safe and prosper in their practice. Our research is based on interviews with experienced and renowned investigative reporters, or so-called elite interviewees (Figenschou 2010), who have worked on transnational collaborations such as the Panama Papers, the Organized Crime and Corruption Project (OCCRP), and the Forbidden Stories. We interviewed eleven female and four male investigative reporters within these networks, some of them twice, over a two-year period. The study findings show that while the cross-cultural environments of these networks can open doors and be beneficial to female journalists in cultures where women otherwise have limited professional leeway, these journalists must still manage a range of detrimental local conditions on the ground. When confronting globalized structures of crime and power through their collaborative and cross-cultural work, female journalists can face social and professional slander and physical and verbal attacks in return. The exchange of coping strategies within professional networks and collaborations will help to mitigate local challenges on the ground and sustain women's participation in professional journalism.

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