'Threat to our democracy': Kiwi journalists increasingly face violence and abuse, study finds
Monday, 9 May 2022
Journalists are increasingly facing threats of violence, including the threat of rape, new research by Massey University says.
In some cases, reporters have experienced physical violence during the news-gathering process, including pushing, shoving and the snatching of equipment.
A survey by the university of 146 of Stuff’s journalists in December 2021 – before anti-mandate protests began at Parliament – indicated threats had become common during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Two-thirds (66%) said they had either faced violence, or threats of violence related to their job. Actual physical violence was reported by 20% of the respondents, while about 40% had been victims of rumours, deep fakes or attempts to discredit them.
Researcher Dr Catherine Strong, of the School of Communication, Journalism, Marketing at Massey University, said it was regrettable that 75% of journalists responded to say they considered it part of their job to have to tolerate toxic abuse or threats.
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'It was confronting to see some of the threats they receive – phrases you wouldn’t expect anyone to utter.'
Strong said she had heard from long-time journalists that threats and abuse had significantly increased since the pandemic began, following a spike in overseas anti-media sentiment fuelled by former US President Donald Trump.
The study builds on Unesco research of 1000 women journalists globally in late 2020 which found 73% had experienced online abuse, 25% had experienced threats of physical violence, and 18% had experienced threats of sexual violence.
Stuff Chief Content Officer Joanna Norris said the research confirmed the company's first-hand experience of an alarming increase in violence and threats towards its journalists.
In early April an occupier of a red zone “freedom village” in Christchurch allegedly punched a Stuff journalist repeatedly in the head.
Two journalists had visited the site on public land to speak with the occupants for an article, when one camper became physical.
A 51-year-old man is due to appear in the Christchurch District Court on May 26, charged with assault.
'It is a threat to our democracy if reporters can't do their jobs safely and without interference,' Norris said.
'We have zero tolerance for abuse or violence against our journalists and we have a number of initiatives under way already to better support, train and safeguard our teams.'
The study found 65% of journalists had experienced threats online, but almost half of those surveyed (48%) also experienced personal threats by phone or in person.
These included threats on their lives, their family, or their homes.
The nature of the abuse was divided along gender lines, echoing a study published recently in the Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.
In the Stuff study, women tended to get more genderised attacks, such as threats of rape, while men tended to experience more actual violence.
Almost all respondents (90%) said they had received abusive messages and 11% said they received them on a daily basis.
A quarter said they self-censored when covering certain topics to avoid abuse, such as removing their names from their work, keeping their distance at an event, or by avoiding writing opinion pieces known to draw toxic messages.
The international Media Freedom index released in early May downgraded New Zealand’s ranking, partly because of the increasing online harassment and the violence and threats against journalists at Covid-19 restriction protests.
New Zealand now ranks 11th out of 180 nations for media freedom.