Pallavi Guha

My research focus is on anti-sexual harassment activism on social and news media platforms. Women journalists in newsrooms often face sexual harassment in their workplaces, either by colleagues or by, sources or both. In the past, women journalists in India were forced to leave newsrooms and the profession due to the lack of support from newsroom organizations. Women journalists shared several such incidents during the #MetooIndia movement in 2018. The news media platforms had a restrained coverage of sexual harassment in their newsrooms, which is a safety issue for journalists. Whatever was reported in the discussion on sexual harassment hovered from safe workplace conditions to a backlash against women and male supervisors avoiding mentoring female team members. The focus of the discussion changed from a structural issue to individual responsibility and concern. Sexual harassment activism coverage in news media relates to women journalists, who often face and are concerned about sexual harassment for their safety.

Definition of journalists' safety

Journalism safety now transcends physical spaces to digital spaces too. The safety of journalists should be across physical and digital spaces. They should be able to report without concern for their physical, mental, and digital safety. Due to social media platforms, journalists now need to constantly ward off threats in digital spaces too. Women journalists and journalists from minoritized communities face additional threats of harassment and violence. Often, they are doxed and trolled on social media platforms, and targeted misinformation is spread to vilify them. Not only are they physically vulnerable in newsrooms, on the field, but also in virtual spaces.

Future plans for research on journalists' safety

Some organizations, such as the International Women's Media Foundation, have recently developed digital tools and toolkits for the safety of women journalists, which are available for use on their websites. Other organizations are also following the trend; I am interested in analyzing the impact of these tools on the safety of women journalists in the Global North and South and if the tools are created to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion by making them accessible to women globally.