Marika Griehsel leads new project to combat hate and threats
The freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker Marika Griehsel will lead the pilot project that is the first step in the government commission given to The Media Institute Fojo and The Swedish Institute of International Affairs to start an international centre to gather knowledge about hate and threats. The centre will also help media houses and journalists to combat harassment, offer support for those who have been targeted and work out routines for analysing and handling online hate speech.
Marika Griehsel has worked as a journalist for many years and did, for instance, work as Africa correspondent for SVT (the Swedish national public TV broadcaster) for eleven years.
Threats and harassment has become part of everyday life for many female journalists. What makes this hate so special is that they are most often not attacked based on what they are reporting, but simply because they are women. As in all cases where journalists and media are attacked, this may result in self-censorship and investigations that fail to materialise, which is a threat to our democracy and something that may lead to closed societies in the long term.
The first stage will be carried out as a pilot project at five different editorial offices in five different countries. During this pilot period, different methods for handling hate and threats towards female journalists will be tested and evaluated.
This is the second commission given to The Media Institute Fojo this year by the government. The other commission, from the Ministry of Culture, was to identify, develop and carry out efforts aimed at journalists and editorial offices in Sweden to prevent and handle exposure to threats and hate.
If you want to learn more about The Media Institute Fojo's project to combat hate and threats, contact operations manager Kersti Forsberg, kersti.forsberg@lnu.se or +4673-092 64 13.