Hamilton Spectator reporters targets of harassment

After two and half years of covering the COVID-19 pandemic and receiving an avalanche of hate mail laced with anti-vaccine conspiracy theories (and more references to the Nazis than she can remember), The Hamilton Spectator's health reporter, Joanna Frketich, had come to believe nothing could surprise her anymore.

She was wrong.

The author of the email was playing at being cryptic, but it was only that. Playing.

It was filled with references Frketich knew well. The school her child went do. Her husband's business. Their home address.

Someone was threatening my children and my husband and my home. So that was something I've not really experienced ever in my journalism career," Frketich said. That took things to a whole new level for me. I pretty much try to ignore the personal attacks but that one did stop me in my tracks."

Frketich is one of hundreds of reporters across Canada reporting a rise in the frequency and volume of harassment directed at journalists. And like many of her colleagues, she says the pandemic appears to have triggered a sharp rise in hate mail that ranges from the offensive to the overtly threatening.

According to a 2021 IPSOS survey of more than a 1,000 Canadian journalists and media workers, harassment is on the rise and getting worse.

Some 72 per cent of respondents say they have been the targets of harassment, which increased dramatically during the pandemic thanks to the rise of anti-vaccine and anti-mandate groups that routinely demeans journalists - echoing Donald Trump's infamous declaration that the news media is the enemy of the people."

The groups targeted the most often are the ones facing the most harm, said Sanyma Sethi of IPSOS.

They are reporting greater psychological impact. And if you look at the type of harassment they are receiving, 61 per cent of LGBTQ workers say that they receive comments specifically targeting gender or sexual identity. So that tells you that this is a more personal attack," she said.

The survey found 33 per cent of journalists who were harassed in 2021 were subjected to sexualized messages or images, while another 30 per cent say they have received threats of physical violence.

Thirteen per cent of respondents said they received death threats.

Frketich said she hardly got any hate mail prior to the pandemic. On occasion, someone who didn't like a story would call or write to complain, but it was always about the story. About the facts.

Once COVID-19 swept across the planet, something changed. It was no longer about the facts of a story. It was about her.

It is always so very personal," Frketich said. It is about my weight or my looks. They will talk about how the only scoops I get are Ben and Jerry's. And ... they'll call me part of a grand conspiracy who will one day be held to account for my role in leading people astray."

The regular avalanche of hatred that ends up in her inbox has changed how Frketich relates to her readers. In the past, she would always respond to messages from readers, even if they were complaints.

Now, there is simply too many ugly messages to sort through, she says. Regular messages from readers can get lost in the avalanche.

It's happening more often than one could have expected," Sethi said of the harassing messages. And it's becoming part of the job. And many who have experienced harassment are seeing that occurrences are rising rather than declining. So that just tells me that something needs to be done about it."

According to a the IPSOS survey, some 33 per cent of respondents have or are considering leaving the profession.

Even journalists at the beginning of their careers have found themselves in the crosshairs.

The Spectator's Fallon Hewitt, having been working in the industry only since 2018, has spent nearly half of her career working in an ecosystem of harassment.

Like Frketich, Hewitt said the pandemic radically and rapidly changed the tone of the kind of emails she received.

It all seemed to actually relate to coverage I was doing about the pandemic," she said.

One particular story about a business that violated COVID-19 public health rules triggered a response so vitriolic that Hewitt joined the ranks of reports who wanted to avoid pandemic coverage.

The business owner fired off a message dripping with vulgar and sexist language.

When this is all over, I honestly hope you rot in hell you sleazy piece of s--t. God forbid we ever cross paths," the message said. You should be f--king ashamed of yourself ... I hope you live a lonely miserable life!"

The Spectator's editor-in-chief, Paul Berton, said the abuse of journalists has been increasing for years, but the pandemic has made it worse.

Journalists, as messengers, have always been the target of abuse," he said Recent developments have not changed how we cover the news, but we do think more about safe spaces, about how we approach interviews and how we conduct ourselves in the community. We take more precautions and we offer support, beforehand and after, when incidents occur."

Grant LaFleche is an investigative reporter with The Spectator. Reach him via email: glafleche@torstar.ca