When Will one Help? Understanding Audience Intervention in Online Harassment of Women Journalists

Shuning Lu*, Luwei Rose Luqiu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

While online harassment directed towards women journalists are under wide discussion, the mechanism of audience intervention in stopping online harassment is less explored. Integrating bystander invention, ambivalent sexism, and social identity theories, we propose and test an integrative framework of audience intervention in online harassment of women journalists. Results from an online experiment in Hong Kong showed that type of harassment, ideological similarity between the audience member and the harassed journalist, and the presence of other responsive bystanders could shape the appraisal of harassment incidents and willingness to intervene. The study advances the literature by clarifying the contextual nuances and challenges of audience intervention in online harassment of women journalists. It bears practical implications on how to defend women journalists so as to protect press freedom, cultivate journalist-audience relationship, and enhance an inclusive and egalitarian online space.

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages19
JournalJournalism Practice
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 20 Apr 2023

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Communication

User-Defined Keywords

  • bystander intervention
  • Hong Kong
  • journalist-audience relationship
  • misogynism
  • Online harassment
  • protests
  • social identity

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