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The Influences of Misogynist Online Harassment on German Female Journalists and Their

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The Influences of Misogynist Online Harassment on German Female Journalists and Their The Influences of Misogynist Online Harassment on German Female Journalists and their Personal and Professional Lives A thesis presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University and the Institute for Communication and Media Studies of Leipzig University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degrees Master of Science in Journalism (Ohio University), Master of Arts in Global Mass Communication (Leipzig University) Nhi Le Vu Phung August 2020 © 2020 Nhi Le Vu Phung. All Rights Reserved. This thesis titled The Influences of Misogynist Online Harassment on German Female Journalists and their Personal and Professional Lives by NHI LE VU PHUNG has been approved for the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, the Scripps College of Communication, and the Institute for Communication and Media Studies by Victoria Leigh LaPoe Associate Professor of Journalism Scott Titsworth Dean, Scripps College of Communication, Ohio University Christian Pieter Hoffman Director, Institute for Communication and Media Studies, Leipzig University ii Abstract LE VU PHUNG NHI, M.S., Journalism; M.A., Global Mass Communication, August 2020 3454453 The Influences of Misogynist Online Harassment on German Female Journalists and their Personal and Professional Lives Director of Thesis: Victoria Leigh LaPoe Committee Members: Mario Haim, Kefajatullah Hamidi Although female journalists persistently experience misogynist online harassment while doing their jobs, this topic has yet to receive significant attention in the German journalism landscape. As revealed through seven in-depth interviews with female, German journalists, these experiences include accusations of attention-seeking, attacks against their appearance, discrediting their skills, infantilization, unsolicited images, misogynist slurs and even fantasies about sexual violence and rape. For intersectionally marginalized female journalists, such as Black women, women of color or Jewish women, these experiences are compounded by the addition of racist and anti-Semitic online harassment. As explained by the interviewees, the effects of this harassment are felt in their personal lives: It leads to mental exhaustion, self-doubt, getting used to it as well as to the adoption of additional safety precautions in one’s personal life. The harassment also impacts the professional lives of female journalists in the form of withdrawing from social media and/or certain topics, interruptions to one’s work, taking additional safety precautions at work and considerations of quitting one’s job. In iii particular, the effects of misogynist online harassment impacted freelancing female journalists whose professional lives are generally more precarious than those of their salaried peers. As a result, all interviewees were unanimous in their demands for fundamental changes both within the newsroom and in society. iv Dedication This thesis is for all the women who persist. v Table of Contents Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication ........................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review................................................................................................................ 3 Female Journalists in Germany ..................................................................................... 3 Harassment against Female Journalists in Germany .................................................... 4 Online Harassment and Online Misogyny .................................................................... 5 Online Harassment and Online Misogyny against Female Journalists ......................... 8 Misogynist Online Harassment Influences Personal Lives .................................... 9 Misogynist Online Harassment Influences Working Practices ............................ 10 Research Questions (RQ) .................................................................................................. 12 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 13 Results ............................................................................................................................... 22 Where Misogynist Online Harassment Was Experienced .......................................... 22 Types of Online Harassment ....................................................................................... 23 Misogyny .............................................................................................................. 23 Racism................................................................................................................... 28 Anti-Semitism ....................................................................................................... 29 Death Threats ........................................................................................................ 30 Influences on Personal Life and Psychology .............................................................. 30 Mental Exhaustion ................................................................................................ 30 Self-doubts ............................................................................................................ 31 “Getting Used to It” .............................................................................................. 32 Safety Precautions for Personal Life..................................................................... 32 Coping Mechanisms.............................................................................................. 33 Influences on Professional Life ...................................................................................34 Withdrawal from Social Media ............................................................................. 35 Withdrawal from Topics ....................................................................................... 36 vi Interruption of Work ............................................................................................. 37 Fear for Career ...................................................................................................... 37 Safety Precautions at Work ................................................................................... 38 Quitting Journalism ............................................................................................... 38 Precarious Freelancers .......................................................................................... 39 General Influences on German Journalism ................................................................. 40 Newsroom Awareness and Demands.......................................................................... 43 More Awareness and Responsibility .................................................................... 44 Less Click-Baiting ................................................................................................ 45 More Staff ............................................................................................................. 47 Psychological Help ............................................................................................... 47 Guidelines ............................................................................................................. 48 Broad Societal Demands ............................................................................................. 49 Strengthening Democratic Values ........................................................................ 49 Internet Safety ....................................................................................................... 51 Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 53 Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 57 References ......................................................................................................................... 59 Appendix: Interview Guide ............................................................................................... 66 vii List of Tables Page Table 1 Types of Journalists 1 .......................................................................................... 16 viii Introduction “I find it very uncomfortable. Every time there is news coverage about death threats, I can see myself briefly thinking: ‘Well, normal.’ I don’t want to find that normal. In fact, there should be coverage on every single of those threats to show at which level we are right now,” said Margarete Stokowski in her speech when she accepted the Kurt- Tucholsky-Preis for committed and succinct literary works (Stokowski, 2019a). Stokowski is “German feminism’s loudest voice” (Haberl, 2019) and well-known for her columns on sociopolitical issues. Her work often makes her the target of online harassment, rape and death threats (Stokowski, 2019b). She decided to shine a light on this problem by making online harassment and death
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