Attacked

Stef Schrader was on vacation in Germany last year when spam messages started to flood her inbox. Seeing random emails from Macy’s—and job alerts for the position of “Chief Idiot”—she realized someone had signed her work email up to dozens of email lists.

Journalists are frequently at risk of being harassed online in an attempt by hostile actors to intimidate or force them into silence. The harassment, most commonly directed at female journalists, often includes threats of violence against the journalist and their family and friends.

Solo work is becoming more common, especially for broadcast and video journalists. However, working alone can make journalists vulnerable to physical assault. For assignments in locations such as neighborhoods with high crime rates, protests, or remote areas, it is advisable that journalists do not work alone.

Journalists have long faced threats in reprisal for their work, and in the internet era, attackers can leverage information published on social media and professional websites to hack, abuse, shame, or defame their target.

Sexual violence can take many forms, including sexual and physical assaults. Any individual can be the subject of sexual misconduct, but journalists are often at risk from a range of people, including sources and members of the public, while they are reporting. That risk is heightened for female or gender non-conforming journalists.

Washington, D.C., August 30, 2019 — Ukrainian authorities must immediately investigate the recent attack on blogger Igor Stakh, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On August 17, 2019, a group of men physically attacked Owen Jones, a columnist for the U.K. daily newspaper The Guardian, his employer reported.

New York, August 16, 2019—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the issuing of an arrest warrant and a raid on the home of Hassan Sabah, a reporter for the Iraqi news broadcaster INEWS, in Basra, and called on Iraqi authorities to allow journalists to work freely and without fear of retaliation for their reporting.

Taipei, August 14, 2019—The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern over an assault on a Chinese reporter covering pro-democracy protests at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday.

Miami, August 13, 2019–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a shooting attack on Haitian journalist Luckson Saint-Vil in southern Haiti last week, and urged Haitian authorities to investigate threats against Saint-Vil and identify and prosecute the attackers.