Beyond “Online Notice-Me”: Analysing Online Harassment Experiences of Journalists in Nigeria

Abstract

Journalists are increasingly reporting that online harassment has become a normative part of their lives, and that online harassment experience induces fatigue, anxiety, and self-censorship on them. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with journalists in Nigeria, this study reports that journalists experienced acute, chronic or perennial, and escalatory harassments of intense nature. The study indicates that acute forms of online harassments were dismissed, amongst others as “online show-off”, “online banter” and “online notice-me”. Thereby misrecognising online harassments as forms of efficiency-focused media criticism. Our data further show that gender is not a triggering factor to online harassment of journalists. However, political, and investigative reporting is seen as a factor. Journalists reported improved systematic intervention from media organisations and their individual coping strategies, including engaging in self-censorship among others, as coping strategies for online harassment. Suggestions for future research areas were delineated.