Attacks On News Crews Increase

A study by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University shows that more than 1 in 5 U.S. television newsrooms reported that their journalists were violently attacked last year.

Some 20.5 percent of TV newsroom leaders surveyed said their staff had been attacked last year.

It gets worse as the markets get bigger. The study shows that 39 percent in top-25 markets reported incidents of a staffer being attacked.  

“Among other terrible things, 2020 showed us that far too often journalists were subjected to harassment, threats and assaults merely for doing their constitutionally protected duty,” said RTDNA’s executive director, Dan Shelley.

Many of last year’s attacks, the study found, were related to protests or civil unrest.

“Almost half of the attacks were against crews covering what news directors described as riots, protests and civil unrest,” said the study. “Security was beefed up at stations and fences, locks and gates installed. One-person crews became two-person; two-person crews became three … with the third person frequently a station manager or, more commonly, a security guard.”

“Attacks on journalists are disturbing and unacceptable,” said SPJ President Matthew Hall in response to the RTDNA study. “Everyone should feel safe at work, especially journalists who, like first responders, often run toward danger and who already have to deal with growing harassment on social media and in person.”

H/T The Hill