Why Do Female Journalists Get More Online Abuse Than Men?

[sp1814]

This is specifically related to one newspaper, but let's assume its not peculiar to just one publication:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/12/the-dark-side-of-guardian-comments

It's not something we see here on AB (the abuse is laudably non-sexist - everyone gets it)...but increasingly it would appear that if you are a woman and you dare to have an opinion online, you are fair game (cf. Gamergate)

[Old_Geezer]

People just being bítchy ?

[wolf63]

I think that women tend to be more *** about other women than about males.

Picking on inferior males would be like kicking a puppy ~ a cute little Labrador puppy.

:-)

[jno]

because the abusers are men, presumably (though not exclusively, I'm sure). And white men - though you politely didn't point it out, of the top 10 abusees, eight were women and two were black men.

[-Talbot-]

jno
because the abusers are men, presumably (though not exclusively, I'm sure). And white men -



So you only presume the abusers are men yet you are sure the abusers are white men ...

odd

[jno]

the "presumably" covered both sentences, as did the "though not exclusively".

[hc4361]

A woman who holds a responsible position in the media whether as a journalist, an expert reporter or a presenter is either:
an ugly old boot who should try harder with her appearance
mutton dressed as lamb
an airhead bimbo
a nasty b*tch

Women just can't win

[Ellipsis]

> Why Do Female Journalists Get More Online Abuse Than Men?

Put these three together and you get the answer:

* There is a subset of commenters who are trolls or, at best, misogynists.
* Trolls pick on women and other minorities.
* Trolls post more than average.

[naomi24]

jno, //because the abusers are men, presumably (though not exclusively, I'm sure). And white men - though you politely didn't point it out,//

Why are you assuming the abusers (even if not exclusively) are white men? As far as I can see there's nothing there for SP to 'politely' ignore.

[Togo]

Most of the abuse appears to be in the 'fashion' media, dominated by women journos and read and commented on by .....................women. I don't presume to speculate on the colour of the women.

[douglas9401]

It's pure femajournophobia.

That's what we do now innit? Make up a word and repeat until mainstream.

[Ellipsis]

> Most of the abuse appears to be in the 'fashion' media, dominated by women journos and read and commented on by .....................women.

The article says this, which is not what you wrote there:

-------------------------------
Articles written by women got more blocked (ie abusive or disruptive) comments across almost all sections. But the more male-dominated the section, the more blocked comments the women who wrote there got (look at Sport and Technology). Fashion, where most articles were written by women, was one of the few sections where male authors consistently received more blocked comments.
-------------------------------

So:

* women journalists get the most abuse generally
* in the fashion section, male journalists get the most abuse (possibly because they are gay or simply perceived to be gay as they are writing about fashion)
* either way, the abuse is coming from trolls, targeting women or other minorities

[Svejk]

Tain't very hard to get your comments blocked in The Guardian.

[Togo]

// Fashion, where most articles were written by women, was one of the few sections where male authors consistently received more blocked comments. //

Fashion read mostly by women. Edited by women, block men's comments. You know, like yeah, 'ya bum does look big in that'

//But the more male-dominated the section, the more blocked comments the women who wrote there got (look at Sport and Technology).//

Something like 'ooo he's lovely' half way through an offside debate or the possibility of Brian Cox discovering the secret to nuclear fusion.

[sp1814]

Togo

Like Ellipsis, I'm a bit thrown by your assertion that the "Most of the abuse appears to be in the 'fashion' media, dominated by women journos and read and commented on by .....................women"

The article appears to be saying the very opposite of that!

[Ellipsis]

> Fashion read mostly by women. Edited by women, block men's comments. You know, like yeah, 'ya bum does look big in that'

No - block trolls' comments, not men's comments. In this case, most of the trolls' comments were directed at male journalists.

> Something like 'ooo he's lovely' half way through an offside debate or the possibility of Brian Cox discovering the secret to nuclear fusion.

No. When they said "the more blocked comments the women who wrote there got", they were talking about women journalists (i.e. writers) receiving comments from trolls - not women trolls (i.e. writers) trolling.

[youngmafbog]

Whats missing here are the topics covered.

Especially from this paper could it be the articles they write are rather towards the heavy footed feminism agenda perhaps?

[anotheoldgit]

I think youngmafbog has hit the nail right on the head.

[Ellipsis]

Articles written by women got more abusive or disruptive comments across almost all sections. But the more male-dominated the section, the more blocked comments the women who wrote there got.

This is not a surprise. Everybody knows there are trolls. Everybody knows who they target. This story just backs it up with data.

Sport and Technology are the best examples of the gender bias. Very male-dominated sections, and when female journalists write there they are heavily trolled. These are not sections that fit the "heavy footed feminism agenda" - in fact, the Guardian's technology section is highly regarded.

[atalanta]

Instinctively, men feel they have less to fear from women than from men. If a man is aggressive towards a man, face-to-face, he is more likely to get walloped than if he is doing the same to a woman. Have you not noticed, on news programmes, male interviewers interrupt women far more often and far more aggressively that they do men ? Same reason. John Pienaar is particularly bad at this on his radio programme, "Pienaar's Politics" Never lets a woman finish a sentence.

[Ellipsis]

> Instinctively, men feel they have less to fear from women than from men

Bit of a sweeping generalisation there.

In any case, there's not a lot of fear of being walloped when you're posting an anonymous comment on a newspaper article. This is not about fear of being walloped, it's about trolling ...