Journalists as targets of hate speech. How German journalists perceive the consequences for themselves and how they cope with it

Abstract

Journalists around the world have increasingly become a target of hate speech in recent years. This is also true for Germany. Since journalists fulfil a public duty in democratic societies, there is reason for concern. As previous research shows, hateful verbal attacks may not only lead to negative emotions and cognitions, but also impair journalistic work. Therefore, this study is concerned with the perceived consequences of hate speech against journalists and the coping strategies used. Results from our quantitative online survey show that a considerable number of German journalists is targeted personally by hate speech. A majority of journalists sees this as a growing problem and assumes that hate speech negatively affects the sentiment towards journalists in society. Moreover, hate speech against journalists can cause negative emotions such as worries and anger, but also strengthens the feeling of confirmation in journalistic work. In line with that, journalists rather use coping strategies to deal with the negative emotions and thoughts triggered by hate speech than applying means to prevent further incidents of hate speech. However, feeling angry, threatened, and confirmed in journalistic work in reaction to hate speech contributes to the latter problem-focused coping.