For journalists, experiencing online harassment, threats and abuse can be isolating and traumatic. Unfortunately, it can also come with the job.
As part of the 2021 cohort of the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator, a team led by Rebekah Tromble, director of the George Washington University’s Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics, received a grant award to develop a rapid response system that will aid experts facing coordinated campaigns of online harassment. The project was awarded a second phase of funding to build on the insights gained through the research, investigation and in-depth interviews conducted with women journalists during the first phase.