Here for Journalists
Women journalists face online violence simply for doing their job and are disproportionately targeted compared to their male peers. On our storytelling platform, journalists can create a special “journalist account,” as well as tag their stories as journalist stories, allowing for more specific and attentive support from our community and other colleagues.
Right To Be (formerly Hollaback!) partnered with the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) and the Coalition Against Online Violence to re-design and expand this platform to support women and gender-expansive journalists experiencing online threats.
According to a 2019 survey conducted by the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, 90% of female reporters in the USA and 70% of reporters in Canada say that online harassment is the most dangerous threat to women in the profession. Online abuse threatens freedom of expression and silences women’s voices. This affects the quality of public discourse and results in some perspectives not being covered. It also has deep repercussions on those who experience it. In a 2018 study by the International Federation of Journalists, 63% of women who experienced online abuse said these attacks had had psychological effects such as anxiety, fear, or stress.
After speaking directly to journalists to understand more about their needs, we learned that women journalists would like to connect with other fellow journalists who understand their situations. They would also like to have access to “action plans” to determine next steps in their cases.
We have adapted our platform to meet those needs. Journalists can now create a special “journalist account,” as well as tag their stories as journalist stories, allowing for more specific and attentive support. They can also access the Coalition Against Online Violence's Online Violence Resources Hub, a project of the IWMF with ICFJ. The Hub offers the latest information on online abuse and easy-to-follow recommendations for specific online violence situations.
Our partnership with IWMF aims to empower women journalists through a peer-to-peer support system and a useful set of tools and resources that could be crucial when experiencing attacks.
Watch our PSA, produced by Mel City Entertainment, designed to raise awareness of the threats that many women journalists face on a daily basis and how they can now get support on Heartmob.
The partnership between Right To Be and IWMF to develop these tools has been made possible by the generous support of Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
Share with your friends on social media
We would be very grateful if you could spread the word via email and on social media. Here are some graphics and suggested captions you can use: Journalists tell stories that must be heard. They unfairly get harassed for it: so @iwmf & @righttobeorg are #HereForJournalists with 2 complementary tools to support. Visit righttobe.org for community, & onlineviolenceresponsehub.org for resources.
Sign Up for Right To Be's Free eLearning program: Bystander Intervention: How to be an Ally When You Witness Online Abuse for Journalism Students.
This online course prepares journalism students to navigate and defuse instances of online harassment through proven bystander intervention strategies.
We are inviting our supporters to sign up for this online course and share it with their networks, student communities, professors or anyone you know that might be interested. This course is aimed at journalism students, but it’s open to everyone as it will empower participants to be agents of positive change in our digital world.
To enroll, Please visit this page. Participants will receive instructions on how to access the course. Enroll today and join the growing movement combating online hate while embracing our shared humanity.
Coalition Against Online Violence's Online Violence Resources Hub
Right To Be is a proud member of the Coalition Against Online Violence. On Right To Be's storytelling platform, people can access the Response Hub for Women Journalists, a tool where journalists can find the latest information on online abuse as well as click through different scenarios to get help with specific online violence situations.
