As a journalist, you have to put yourself out there to the public. In doing so, it is expected that people will express their opinions about what you cover to you on social media. It can be forgotten that at the end of someone’s message is a person that these words can affect.
Aaron Stokes spoke to Gabby, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, from the Reach PLC group and explained what impact backlash can have on a journalist's mental health, as well as how it can impact their work.
Gabby published an article in response to a viral video. The person involved did not like the article that was written and began commenting on Gabby's social media.
Once this happened, the person's followers began harassing her on Facebook. After this, it went over to Twitter and Instagram.
It is important to consider what impact backlash can have on a person’s mental health. Sandra Fabowale, Counselling Manager at Carrs Lane Counselling says: “This is something that can stick with you for a long time.
“People say things like words don’t hurt... but they do.”
Gabby, not their real name, says: “The way I found how people were coming on is because I found out they made a TikTok video about me.
“For the following week, it was video after video.
“[it] made me feel quite suicidal.”
Often this is the side of journalism that is not shown. One of the reasons why journalists do not tend to talk about when they go through an experience such as this is because they can sometimes feel ashamed. This comes from the idea that people feel that this experience is something that journalists can switch off and it be forgotten. The reality is that this cannot happen when a journalist experiences an event like this, Gabby feels.
Another contributing factor as to why journalists do not talk about experiences such as this is down to what is expected of journalists. During the training as well as entering the industry, the idea of trolling and dealing with backlash from the public is part of the job.
“We’re told to expect hate for our job, but this shouldn’t be the way.” explains Gabby.
Ms Fabowale agrees that expecting trolling should not be a part of a person’s job.
Responding to this, Dr Rebecca Whitington, Online Safety Editor for Reach PLC, says: “Unfortunately they [journalists] should be prepared to experience some online harm connected to their work.
“As journalists work on the frontline of online spaces and often as the bearers of news that might spark negative or polarised opinion or debate, there has to be anticipation that they are at an elevated risk of online harm.”
Alongside affecting their mental health, backlash can create challenges for journalists who rely on social media for their job as they can receive backlash from their work.
There have been cases where this has affected a journalist’s work, where they have struggled with using social media after the backlash that they received after an article they published.
Gabby says: “I wasn’t able to go on social media to monitor the things that I needed to.”
While Gabby was able to return to work in their newsroom, they do feel more needs to be done to prevent events such as this from happening again.
The issue of social media trolling is not exclusive to the journalism industry. There have been cases outside of the journalism industry where social media trolling has affected a person’s mental health. Research into social media for women by Amnesty UK revealed one in five women in the UK have experienced online abuse.
Alongside facing the abuse online, women have also experienced the effects of the abuse offline in their personal lives. 55 percent of women said they were experiencing anxiety, stress, or panic attacks because of the online abuse they have faced.
What's being done to help prevent this from happening again?
The online safety bill was introduced by the UK government and is designed to “[protect] children and makes sure social media platforms are held responsible for the content they host.” If social media sites do not decide to take down content such as content that bullies other users, they could be fined and there is a chance those who are running a social media site, could face prison time if the content on their site does not conform to the online safety bill.
There has also been a letter signed by more than 100 journalists and leaders in the media industry to UK Police Chiefs about the abuse that is faced by women journalists.
Reach PLC, Women in Journalism, and Reporters Without Borders were the three main groups that fronted the letter that asked for:
The improvement of recording crimes against journalists.
Provide national-level guidelines for police on violence against journalists.
Report back to the government.
Improve dialogue between police and the industry.
Reach PLC also has an Online Safety Editor who oversees a reporting system that allows staff members to seek support if they experience online harm. This point of contact for staff is Dr Rebecca Whitington.
Dr Whitington explained a workshop that Reach PLC ran. In this workshop, participants are encouraged to dox themselves to find what information about themselves is out there. This shows those in the workshop see what information is available about them online. It will then allow them to remove and edit this information to help protect themselves.
This is important because once pieces of information have been put together, a jigsaw identification can be built about the person.
Also, Reach PLC offers journalists working on stories or investigations that have a heightened risk a safety assessment. Assessing the online, physical, and well-being risks allows for protective measures to be put in place for journalists and photographers working on these stories.
What else can help combat trolling?
“Having to prove who you are when you sign up [to social media sites] because anonymity makes it too easy for people to do this.
“It is quite easy to say things to someone when you know they cannot see you.” Ms Fabowale says.
Furthermore, there also needs to be a change in the way people use social media. This is because people can be available at all hours of the day. When this happens, it does not allow journalists to be able to escape the trolling according to Ms Fabowale.
Dr Whitington says: “Protection is the best form of defence in terms of online safety.
“This comes in a number of forms, including live training sessions, information sharing, emails, peer-support network and social media.”
If you are experiencing a mental health emergency contact emergency service on 999.
For non-urgent mental health advice, contact 101.
If you require someone to speak to about your mental health, call the Samaritans on 116 123.
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