More than 100 journalists and media industry leaders have signed a letter to UK police chiefs asking them to “do everything you can to break the cycle of abuse that risks sidelining women from journalism”.
The letter, led by Reach, Women in Journalism and Reporters Without Borders, asked three police representatives on the Government-coordinated National Committee for the Safety of Journalists to take action in four ways that could help “secure a safer future for women working in journalism in the UK”.
Scroll down to see the full letter and list of who signed it
The journalists fear that a “significant” increase in online abuse against women in journalism over the past decade could impact media freedom and diversity by making them want to leave the industry.
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Research conducted by Women in Journalism and Reach last year found that 18% of around 400 women journalists who responded had considered leaving the media industry altogether as a result of abuse and threats online.
The letter, sent on Friday to mark International Women’s Day, said improving the recording of crimes against journalists and whether attacks are as a result of their work would help reveal the scale of the problem and, as a result, allow effective responses to be found and social media platforms to be held to account.
It also asked for these statistics to be regularly reported back to the committee and government.
It asked for national guidance and training for police to be issued so they can understand the “gendered nature of online violence, the connections between online and physical violence, and best practice in dealing with such crimes”.
Finally it called for better dialogue between police forces and journalists “to ensure attacks can be quickly reported and effectively dealt with and perpetrators held to account”.
National newspaper editors to have signed the letter include ex-Women in Journalism chair and former Mirror editor Alison Phillips who left the newspaper group a month ago and her successor Caroline Waterston, the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People’s Gemma Aldridge, The Guardian’s Katharine Viner, The Observer’s Paul Webster, Chris Evans at The Telegraph, Tony Gallagher at The Times, Sun editor-in-chief Victoria Newton, Reach Scotland editor-in-chief David Dick and Gary Jones at the Express.
Broadcasters showing support include Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, who last week coordinated a separate letter calling for international journalists to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman and international correspondent Lindsey Hilsum, ITV News presenters Julie Etchingham and Mary Nightingale and political editor Robert Peston, and BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring – who alone is the target of more than 80% of online abuse flagged within the BBC.
Editors of regional brands across Reach and Newsquest, including the Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo and Belfast Live, are also represented.
Also signing was Women in Journalism chair and ITN chief executive Rachel Corp, who said in an interview around mental health this week: “Unfortunately, there are still things which are harder for women as journalists, particularly around online safety and the kind of abuse people can receive.”
Reach is the biggest commercial news publisher in the UK and unusually has an online safety editor working to support staff and work on internal and external measures to try and crack down on abuse. The third partner behind the letter, Reporters Without Borders, has published multiple reports about online harassment and sexism affecting journalists.
Full letter sent to police chiefs:
Violence against women working in journalism in the UK has increased significantly over the past decade, much of it conducted online. While all journalists may be subject to online abuse, women are far more likely to experience gendered attacks: recent research showed that three-quarters of women working in the UK journalism and media industries had experienced rape or death threats, harassment, stalking, misogyny or sexual approaches online in connection to their work.
We are deeply concerned about the impact of online violence on media freedom and diversity. Research conducted by the UK’s largest commercial publisher Reach Plc and Women in Journalism (1) found women were leaving front-line jobs in journalism and minimising their online profiles in order to avoid online violence against them. There is also compelling evidence (2) to show that women of colour, women who openly share their faith, LGBTQ+ women, women with disabilities, and women from working class backgrounds are significantly more likely to experience violence and hate online. The chilling effect of online violence – likely to get worse as we head towards elections – stifles press freedom and creates spaces for disinformation to thrive; it also risks making journalism less diverse at a time it needs more than ever to be representative.
We are also worried about the impact on individuals. Women journalists who experience serious online violence, such as stalking, death or rape threats, or receiving unsolicited pornographic content from anonymous accounts, report long-term impacts on their professional and personal lives, including depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and post-traumatic stress disorder. There is a growing awareness of the link between online and physical violence; fear that online attacks may lead to ‘real-life’ attacks is palpable among those who experience violence online.
Yet despite the rise in online violence, there are worrying inconsistencies in the way police handle, record and respond to online crimes against women journalists nationwide. Women journalists reporting online crimes to police often feel their case is quickly dismissed, or that their fears are perceived as an overreaction – a fact which adds to their trauma and makes it all the more likely they will leave the profession.
We need to stop this cycle. The cycle of women feeling unsafe in their work. The cycle of women feeling unheard. We need to secure a safer future for women working in journalism in the UK.
So today, on International Women’s Day, we come together to ask you – as police representatives charged with working on the safety of journalists – to work with us for change. We have four simple asks which could make a world of difference to our industry both now and in the future:
- Improve the recording of crimes against journalists. Accurate reporting – including clearly recording when attacks are related to a journalist’s work – is essential if we are to understand the scale of the problem, formulate effective responses and hold social media platforms to account.
- Provide national-level guidance for police on online violence against journalists, and training on the gendered nature of online violence, the connections between online and physical violence, and best practice in dealing with such crimes.
- Report back to government. As police representatives on the National Committee for the Safety of Journalists, we call on you to regularly report back figures of crimes against journalists to the Committee.
- Improve dialogue between police and industry. Police forces should establish direct and effective channels of communication with journalists and representative bodies to ensure attacks can be quickly reported and effectively dealt with and perpetrators held to account.
Today, we as journalists and media leaders join Reporters Without Borders UK, Women in Journalism and Reach Plc to ask you to do everything you can to break the cycle of abuse that risks sidelining women from journalism. Let’s work together to break the cycle and secure a safer future for women working in journalism.
Full list of signatories on the letter:
- Alex Crawford – Foreign correspondent, Sky News
- Alex Stepney – Policy and External Affairs Director, News UK
- Alison Gow – Media consultant
- Alison Phillips – Journalist
- Andrew Colley – Regional Editor, Newsquest Cumbria
- Anna Highfield – Senior News Reporter, Architects’ Journal
- Anthony Baxter – Deputy Managing Editor, LBC Newsgathering
- Antonella Mulè – Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer, Reach
- Anu Anand – Journalist
- Benedicte Paviot – France 24´s UK Correspondent
- Carole Cadwalladr – Journalist, The Guardian and The Observer
- Caroline Waterston – Editor, Mirror
- Catherine Philp – World Affairs Editor, The Times
- Cathy Newman – Presenter, Channel 4 News
- Chris Evans – Editor, The Telegraph
- Christina Lamb – Chief Foreign Correspondent, Sunday Times
- Clothilde Redfern – Director, Rory Peck Trust
- Colin Hume – Head of Learning & Development, National World
- Daisy Wyatt – Associate Editor, The Daily Express
- Daniel Gorman – Director, English PEN
- David Dick – Editor In Chief (Scotland), Reach Plc
- David Higgerson – Chief Digital Publisher, Reach Plc
- Dawn Alford – Executive Director, Society of Editors
- Deborah Bonetti – Director, Foreign Press Association in London
- Dhruti Shah – Freelance Journalist
- Dominic Ponsford – Editor-in-Chief, Press Gazette
- Donna Ferguson – Award-winning freelance journalist
- Donna-Louise Bishop – Specialist reporter (obituaries), Newsquest
- Dr Maja Šimunjak – Senior Lecturer in Journalism
- Dylan Jones – Editor-In-Chief, Evening Standard
- Edd Moore – Audience and Content Director, South West, Reach plc
- Eoin Brannigan – Editor-in-Chief, Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life
- Fiona O’Brien – UK Director, Reporters Without Borders
- Fleur Launspach – UK correspondent Dutch national news NOS
- Gary Jones – Editor, Daily Express and Sunday Express
- Gavin Foster – Editor, Northern Echo
- Gavin Thompson – Regional Editor, Newsquest Wales
- Gemma Aldridge – Editor, Sunday Mirror and The People
- Graeme Brown – Editor, Birmingham Mail and BirminghamLive
- Hanna Geissler – Health Editor, Daily Express
- Hannah Storm – Media Safety Consultant and Co-Director, Headlines Network
- Helen Dalby – Audience and Content Director, Reach
- Hilly Janes – Associate Lecturer, Media School, London College of Communication
- James Brindle – Chief Executive Officer, The Journalists’ Charity
- James Evelegh – Editor, InPublishing
- James Harding – Editor and Founder, Tortoise Media
- Jenny Kean – Writer and researcher
- Jessica Ní Mhainín – Policy and Campaigns Manager, Index on Censorship
- Jodie Ginsberg – CEO, Committee to Protect Journalists
- John Crowley – Editor, FT
- John Wilson – Editor, Hereford Times, Newsquest
- Jonathan Paterson – Managing Director, The News Movement
- Joy Yates – Regional Editor, Newsquest Cumbria
- Julie Etchingham – Anchor, ITV News at Ten
- Karin Goodwin – Co-editor and Journalist, The Ferret
- Karyn Fleeting – Delivery Director, Reach Plc
- Katharine Viner – Editor in Chief, Guardian News & Media
- Katie French – Regional Editor, Newsquest
- Leona O’Neill – Journalist
- Liam Fisher – Head of talkSPORT
- Lindsey Hilsum – International Editor, Channel 4 News
- Lisa Bradley – Deputy Head of Journalism, University of Sheffield
- Liz Green – Journalist, broadcaster
- Liz Nice – Editor
- Marcela Kunova – Editor, Journalism.co.uk
- Maria Boyle – Luxury travel writer and PR director
- Maria Breslin – Editor, Liverpool Echo
- Marianna Spring – Disinformation and social media correspondent, BBC
- Martin Little – Audience Transformation Director, Reach Plc
- Mary Nightingale – Presenter, ITV Evening News
- Michael Adkins – Senior Editor, Newsquest
- Michela Wrong – Journalist and Author
- Michelle Stanistreet – NUJ General Secretary
- Natalie Fahy – Editor, Nottinghamshire Live
- Nic Keaney – Managing Editor
- Owen Meredith – CEO, News Media Association
- Patricia Devlin – Investigative Journalist
- Patrick Ward – Print ACE
- Paul Caruana Galizia – Reporter, Tortoise Media
- Paul Linford – Publisher, HoldtheFrontPage
- Paul Webster – Editor, The Observer
- Professor Julie Posetti – Global Director of Research, International Center for Journalists; Professor of Journalism, City, University of London.
- Rachel Corp – CEO for ITN and Chair of Women in Journalism
- Rana Rahimpour – Freelance Iranian-British journalist
- Rebecca Whittington – Online Safety Editor, Reach
- Richard Duggan – Regional Editor North West, Newsquest
- Richard Porritt – Regional Editor, Newsquest
- Richard Reeves – CEO, AOP (Association of Online Publishers)
- Richard Wallace – Head of TV, News UK
- Robert Peston – Journalist
- Rodney Edwards – Editor, The Impartial Reporter
- Ruth Hardy-Mullings – Head of Content
- Sangita Myska – Journalist & LBC Radio Presenter
- Sarah Collins – Editor at talkSPORT
- Sarah Lester – Editor, Manchester Evening News
- Sarah Macdonald – Founder/Director Make Waves Ltd
- Sharmeen Ziauddin – Editor in Chief, She Speaks We Hear
- Sheena McStravick – Editor, Belfast Live
- Simon Murfitt – Senior Editor, Newsquest London
- Simon Pitts – Chief Executive, STV
- Sonya Thomas – Freelance Journalist and Writer
- Sophia Smith Galer – Freelance Journalist and Content Creator
- Steffan Rhys – Editor, WalesOnline
- Tim Lethaby – Regional Editor, Newsquest South West
- Tim Levell – Programme Director, Times Radio
- Toby Granville – Editorial Development Director, Newsquest
- Tony Gallagher – Editor, The Times
- Victoria Macdonald – Health and Social Care Editor
- Victoria Newton – Editor-in-Chief, The Sun
- Wayne Ankers – Editor, YorkshireLive
- Yasmin Alibhai-Brown – Journalist, Columnist, Author
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