Women and leadership in the news media, sexism’s toll on journalism, and how to cover vaccine hesitancy

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Sexism’s toll on journalism. We have a pressing obligation to defend journalism with all our strength against the many dangers that threaten it, of which gender-based and sexual bullying and attacks are a part. It is unthinkable that women journalists should endure twice the level of danger and have to defend themselves on another front, a many-sided struggle since it exists outside the newsroom as well as inside.

Women and leadership in the news media 2021: evidence from 12 markets. In this Reuters Institute’s fact sheet we analyse the gender breakdown of top editors in a strategic sample of 240 major online and offline news outlets in 12 different markets across four continents.

Maria Ressa: fighting an onslaught of online violence. This ground-breaking collaborative case study is the most comprehensive assessment of online violence against a prominent woman journalist to date. We conducted a forensic analysis of the torrent of social media attacks on internationally celebrated digital media pioneer Maria Ressa over a five-year period (2016-2021). Here, we detail the intensity and ferocity of this abuse, and demonstrate how it is designed not only to vilify a journalism icon, but to discredit journalism itself, and shatter public trust in facts.

How to cover vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine resistance is a challenging story for news organizations. Ordinary journalistic practices can unintentionally exacerbate the public health crisis by amplifying the very mis- and disinformation it seeks to counter. Here’s what we’ve learned about the keys to reporting this critical story.

Will Hong Kong’s free press survive? Journalists look back on eight months of disintegration.

The attack on media freedom in Poland clears way for an all-out assault on fundamental EU values. The assault on free media is only one of the many fronts opened by the ruling camp in its war on Polish democracy and civil society. If my words might seem harsh, it is because we are past the point of cautious euphemisms. The attack on media freedom in Poland clears the way for an all-out assault on the very values on which the European Union was founded.

An annotated reading guide to the Modi government’s tool-kit for managing the media. The report contains numerous suggestions aimed at countering the impact of the digital news media. The Wire is mentioned three times as a media platform exerting a negative influence on the public perception of the government.

OCCRP condemns state-affiliated media campaign tying OCCRP editor to Serbian crime gang. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is deeply concerned by a mounting assault by Serbian tabloid news outlets on our colleague, Stevan Dojčinović, who is both an OCCRP regional editor and the editor in chief of KRIK, a major Serbian news outlet focusing on crime and corruption.

How Yahoo News reached 1 million followers on TikTok in 1 year. The account, started by a 24-year-old special projects editor, uses a combination of partner footage, original reporting, and tongue-in-cheek humour to deliver news.

Growing alarm over threats to media freedoms in Greece. Journalists in Greece say censorship, intimidation and restrictions on access are getting worse under the ruling conservatives.

Photo credit: Gerd Altmann via Pixabay