Journalism and Communication Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Journalism and Communication Theses and Dissertations by Subject "Affect"

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    Harassing the Fourth Estate: The Prevalence and Effects of Outsider-Initiated Harassment Towards Journalists
    (University of Oregon, 2020-09-24) Miller, Kaitlin; Abdenour, Jesse
    Harassment of journalists from viewers, readers, and strangers is not a new phenomenon, but one that is increasingly garnering attention by both the popular press and trade press. As such, this paper utilizes theoretical concepts of sensemaking, emotional labor, and affective events theory to analyze and interpret what type of harassment events (negative affective events) journalists experience, their emotional responses (affective reactions), and their subsequent actions (affective behaviors) and satisfaction with journalistic work (work attitudes). Research indicated journalists experience three primary forms of harassment at work: (1) incivility and disruptive harassment, (2) sexual harassment, and (3) personally attacking harassment. Women, more visible journalists such as broadcast journalists, and some journalists of color are more likely than other journalists to experience harassment from viewers, readers, and strangers. When examining affective reactions, men—who noted limited to no experience with sexual harassment—say they experience emotions of anger when harassed. Women, however, noted emotions of anger when experiencing sexual harassment, and emotions of fear when experiencing incivility and disruptive harassment and personally attacking harassment. Journalists’ emotions, gender, and the frequency at which they experience harassment were predictors of affect-driven work behaviors such as avoiding interviewing someone, being less active on social media, and even considering leaving journalism. Younger journalists were also more likely to engage in affect-driven work behaviors. Harassment also affected journalists’ work attitude of job satisfaction—specifically incivility and disruptive harassment. This type of harassment is likely to decrease job satisfaction while supervisor support and larger organizational size are likely to increase satisfaction. In sum, harassment from viewers, readers, and strangers not only affects journalists’ emotions, it affects how they act and think about their work. This research adds to literature on Affective Events Theory by highlighting work harassment from organizational outsiders (readers viewers, and strangers) as an affective event with significant affect-driven behaviors and attitudes. Furthermore, there are practical implications for practitioners discussed at the end of this paper—highlighting the need for supervisor support, empowerment, and education of journalists.