Occupational Hazards: Individual and Professional Factors of Why Journalists Become Victims of Online Hate Speech

Abstract

Journalists are regularly exposed to online hate speech their profession. Because discrimination often harms targets and can prompt self-censorship in journalistic content, undermining journalism’s public duty, it is essential to understand factors explaining why journalists become victims of online hate speech. Using Routine Activity Theory, an online survey of journalists in Germany (N = 497) revealed that conceptions of their roles as interpreters or adversaries were associated with more frequently being targets of online hate speech. Moreover, women journalists and journalists with migration background were additionally targeted by respectively sexist and racist online hate speech. Participation in active content moderation, a presumed destructive motivation, and audiences’ weak trust in media also raised journalists’ likelihood of being targets of hate speech online. Newsroom support, however, was positively related to such victimization, possibly as a result of sharing past experiences.

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