Defector's Harassment Protection Policy May Inspire Others

On Friday, Kelsey McKinney, a staff writer at the subscription-based sports publisher Defector Media, announced on Twitter that the worker-owned publication had created a specific set of policies to protect its employees from digital harassment. “We know that harassment is a problem, so we've taken this one preventative measure to make sure that [our staff] are as safe as possible,” McKinney told Adweek. “If they are actively harassed, we are going to do something. In many ways, it’s just the bare minimum.” 63% of female journalists are harassed or threatened online For many journalists, especially women and people of color, online harassment has become a fixture of their digital experience, a repugnant reality that many have been forced to accept as a hazard of the occupation. A 2018 survey from the International Women’s Media Foundation found that 63% of female journalists reported being threatened or harassed online, and recent personal accounts from journalists Taylor Lorenz, Felicia Sonmez, and Lyz Lenz have underscored how traumatizing the attacks can be. Journalists rely on the publications for legal aid and institutional backing, but media companies have been reluctant to offer clear-cut policies to defend reporters from online harassment. The New York Times, for instance, told USA Today that it has “dedicated staff and robust measures in place to protect journalists,” but would not disclose further details. The needs of journalists differ based on their beats, backgrounds and other considerations, making a company-wide policy a challenge to implement, said Jes Osrow, the cofounder and COO of the organizational consultancy firm The Rise Journey. Nonetheless, if digital harassment remains commonplace, programs to safeguard journalists from online abuse could soon become a necessity. “In a society where hate crimes are becoming the norm, policies like these are going to have to become requirements,” Osrow said. “Psychological safety is necessary for good journalism.” How the Defector policy protects its staff As part of the program, all 23 Defector staff, as well as their partners and families, will gain access to a slate of protections designed to prevent online harassment and provide support during periods of attack. Defector employees will receive coverage from DeleteMe, a service that provides “on-going scanning and removal of personal information from online and offline sources,” according to Defector’s statement. During periods of real-time harassment, targeted Defector staff will also receive a slew of other protections, including an upgrade of DeleteMe coverage featuring strengthened protective measures; a proxy who can temporarily manage a targeted employee’s social media accounts; safe lodging in a hotel or Airbnb for a default period of 10 days; facilitated connections with law enforcement or a crisis management consultant; and the assistance of human resources consultants and legal counsel. During an attack, Defector will cover all expenses, and time taken away from work during a doxxing episode will be considered sick leave, rather than cutting into Defector employees’ four weeks of vacation. The business of retention By offering its staff a tangible protection policy, Defector aims to make its newsroom a more appealing place to work, which increases employee retention and productivity. The publication has 38,000 paying subscribers and 5.3 million page views in March, according to data shared with Adweek. The policy costs Defector less than $200 per employee per year, said vice president of revenue and operations Jasper Wang. And in a period of acute harassment, the price of providing an employee temporary lodging and crisis counsel will run into the low four-digits, Wang estimates. As a result, concerns over employee wellness and company finance find themselves are aligned on the issue. “An employee who feels safe does better work and is more likely to stay in the job,” Wang said. “You only have to assume marginal improvements in productivity or retention for the policies to pay for themselves.” The new policy is a promising first step, but Defector will need to make its language more specific to really give it teeth, said Osrow, the organizational consultant. For instance, if a Defector employee tweeted an opinion unrelated to their work that set off a firestorm, it's unclear if the policy would still cover them. “You have to draw very clear lines, and then articulate those lines, because that’s where employers can get into trouble,” Osrow said. Establishing a precedent McKinney shared the new Defector policy on Twitter specifically to encourage others to copy the practice, following the publication's social media sharing of freelancer guidelines in December. Defector would love other publications and their unions to replicate the program they have created, McKinney said. Another small independent publication, Discourse Blog, has enacted a similar preventative anti-harassment policy, registering a DeleteMe account in its first few months of existence, said publisher Aleksander Chan. Chan and McKinney both worked at G/O Media outlets, where they were introduced to DeleteMe. However, the difference between their publications’ policies and those of many larger companies lies in the willingness of Defector and Discourse Blog to openly intervene on their journalists’ behalf. At larger publications, especially ones with heterodox reporting staff, it can be challenging to defend the actions of every employee, Chan said. Smaller, tighter-knit organizations benefit from a sense of camaraderie that encourages its staff to look out for each other. “Being able to write your own rules, with people who share your values, is definitely a huge benefit of launching your own publication,” Chan said. “These things can become political quickly.” Defector Media Goes Subscription-First in a Fluctuating Digital Market

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Defector Media’s Harassment Protection Policy May Set a New Precedent

A glimpse into a workplace protection initiative that could become ubiquitous

63% of female journalists are harassed or threatened online

Mark Stenberg

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