Shooting the Messenger? Harassment and Hate Speech Directed at Journalists on Social Media

TL;DR

This study examines harassment and hate speech directed at journalists on social media during Spain's 2023 elections, highlighting gender and political polarization factors influencing online hostility.

Contribution

It provides empirical analysis of harassment patterns against journalists during a specific political event, emphasizing gender and ideological dimensions of online hostility.

Findings

Insults and political hate are most common forms of harassment.

Harassment is more frequent on personal accounts than institutional ones.

Women journalists face more sexist messages, especially from extremists.

Abstract

Journalists have incorporated social networks into their work as a standard tool, enhancing their ability to produce and disseminate information and making it easier for them to connect more directly with their audiences. However, this greater presence in the digital public sphere has also increased their exposure to harassment and hate speech, particularly in the case of women journalists. This study analyzes the presence of harassment and hate speech in responses (n = 60,684) to messages that 200 journalists and media outlets posted on X (formerly Twitter) accounts during the days immediately preceding and following the July 23 (23-J) general elections held in Spain in 2023. The results indicate that the most common forms of harassment were insults and political hate, which were more frequently aimed at personal accounts than institutional ones, highlighting the significant role of political polarization-particularly during election periods-in shaping the hostility that journalists face. Moreover, although, generally speaking, the total number of harassing messages was similar for men and women, it was found that a greater number of sexist messages were aimed at women journalists, and an ideological dimension was identified in the hate speech that extremists or right-wing populists directed at them. This study corroborates that this is a minor but systemic issue, particularly from a political and gender perspective. To counteract this, the media must develop proactive policies and protective actions extending even to the individual level, where this issue usually applies.