ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 focuses on how traditional obstacles for women journalists appear in adapted forms in digital spaces of journalism. Digital spaces offer journalists new possibilities to contact a variety of sources, engage with the audience and to network. At the same time, it has made them more vulnerable to digital threats that come in different shapes and forms. Women expressing their opinions online are disproportionally confronted with misogynist comments, verbal and physical threats and sexual harassment. This can result in self-censorship and can have a chilling effect on the freedom of the press. Women journalists articulating feminist positions are especially targeted. In this chapter, this form of harassment is positioned as a backlash or counter-assault that occurs when women are hacking the gender gap and making significant progress to obtain equal rights in journalism. It aims to address the lack of knowledge of the characteristics and dynamics of online harassment and how it is experienced by journalists. Special attention will be given to intersections with other aspects of identity, more specifically, with gender, ethnicity, sexuality and age. The results are based on 23 qualitative interviews with journalism professionals who have experienced different forms of online harassment.
