How the International Women's Media Foundation Fights for Women in Journalism and Strengthens Press
(and the WAR ON WOMEN continues apace. Heartbreaking, anger-making, important article)
How the International Women’s Media Foundation Fights for Women in Journalism and Strengthens Press Freedom
7/24/2023 by Max Fallon-Goodwin
The international recognition of the IWMF’s Courage in Journalism Awards gives women and nonbinary reporters a “mantle of safety and security,” said Elisa Lees Muñoz, executive director of IWMF.
Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui asks a question of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a joint press conference alongside U.S President Joe Biden at the White House on June 22, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
Since taking office in 2014, Muslims in India have faced rampant violent discrimination—including death—for doing things such as: eating beef, giving their child a Muslim name, protesting and wearing hijabs. On June 22, 2023, during a press conference with the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, and President Joe Biden, Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui posed a question to Modi asking him to discuss the accusations of discrimination of religious minorities against his government. Siddiqui asked, “What steps are you and your government willing to take to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in your country and to uphold free speech?” Despite previous campaigns to block Modi from entering the U.S., Modi appeared shocked by Siddiqui’s question. Amit Malviya—the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling political party in India under Modi—took to Twitter to enrage his followers, tweeting that Modi “completely destroyed the motivated question on steps being taken to ‘protect’ rights of Muslims and other minorities” and that this “was another blow to the toolkit gang,” an insult used by leaders in the BJP to dismiss critics of Modi. His tweet started the storm of attacks launched against Siddiqui in response to her question. Siddiqui soon became the target of a strategic and violent online campaign. Siddiqui’s attackers—many aligned with the BJP—attacked her religious beliefs, heritage and gender; many claimed she was a “Pakistani extremist.”
The attacks against Siddiqui were so rampant that various organizations, including the White House and the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), organized campaigns of public support and condemned their attackers for violating the basic tenets of the free press.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzpK0K8acAAOBXp?format=jpg&name=small
For Women Journalists, Harassment Is Commonplace
This sort of coordinated online attack against women journalists is a daily occurrence. Nearly one-third of women journalists consider leaving the profession due to online attacks and threats. A survey conducted by the IWMF in 2018 found:
12 percent of women journalists said they had their phone tapped.
10 percent reported receiving death threats, fake social media accounts made under their names, had physical threats sent to their private phone number, had emails hacked and have been doxed, just in that year.
90 percent said there has been a significant increase in online harassment over the past five years.
. . . . .
A journalist interviewed for this research who chose to go by the alias Carrie noted that after receiving a nearly constant onslaught of online harassment and bullying, including veiled death threats and sexually suggestive photos, she was “feeling pretty depressed. I felt really alone,” and that she “didn’t want to write things that would bring on the attacks again.” Another journalist who worked for a Southern daily newspaper who used the alias Ada stated that at least once a month she was called a “n****r b***h” during her 11-year tenure at the paper. The last email that made her finally leave her job came with a terrifying racialized threat. It read, “You really are a n****r b***h. I will r**e you and throw you in the gutter.” When Ada brought these emails to the newspaper managers, she was made to feel as though she was overreacting. When she finally quit, they treated her as if she was the problem, stating that she was choosing not to ignore the harassment. Ada left because despite receiving constant harassment and threats, no one in a position of power at her job took her seriously—an unfortunate reality for many women who come forward with stories of harassment.
. . . .
Elisa Lees Muñoz at the IWMF 2022 Courage in Journalism Awards on Oct. 27, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Vince Bucci / Getty Images for International Women’s Media Foundation)
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Ms. and the IWMF Feature Voices of Decorated Women Journalists at Risk
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In the early days of the internet, when the IWMF started, there was hope that connecting people across the globe would create a unifying call and that the world wide web would act as the “great equalizer.” In an increasingly globalized news market, women journalists have learned that social media and other online forms of communication have meant that the harassment they face is unending; the internet often gives a platform for the most hateful people to coalesce and target marginalized groups. Last year, 12 women journalists were murdered, and the number of women journalists imprisoned rose by 64 percent. By continuing to award courageous journalists, the IWMF is making it known that the threat of violence against women reporters is ever-present. Still, it also is a testament to the unwavering spirit of women journalists globally.
The IWMF relies on donations to keep fighting for women journalists. You can donate here (https://impact.iwmf.org/give/177175/#!/donation/checkout).
If you want to attend this year’s award reception gala in DC, NYC or LA, you can learn more here (https://www.iwmf.org/awards/courage-in-journalism-awards/).
https://msmagazine.com/2023/07/24/iwmf-awards-courage-journalism-women/
