How online harassment affects Korean journalists? The effects of online harassment on the journalists’ psychological problems and their intention to leave the profession
Open accessAbstract
This study examined the effects of online harassment on journalists’ psychological trauma and their intention to leave work. It also investigated whether journalists’ psychological trauma mediates the effects of online harassment on their intention to leave the profession and whether gender makes a difference in that relationship. An online survey of 404 South Korean journalists provided three categories of online harassment that journalists experience: (1) aggressive and abusive expression, (2) disclosure of private information, and (3) cyberstalking and hacking. The findings of this study show that aggressive and abusive expression was the most frequent type of online harassment whereas cyberstalking and hacking was the least frequent. As expected, online harassment was found to be positively associated with journalists’ psychological trauma (PTSD symptoms) and intention to leave work. The results further indicate that journalists’ psychological trauma originating from online harassment frequently resulted in an intention to leave work. Interestingly, journalists’ psychological trauma was a significant mediator in the relationship between psychological trauma levels and intention to leave work for female journalists, but not for male journalists.
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Elevated symptoms of PTSD in the sample replicate Korean journalist data.
“Similarly, elevated symptoms of PTSD found in our sample replicate Korean journalist data (Lee & Park, 2024).”
From An examination of psychological distress and moral injury in journalists exposed to online harassment (2025) · cites this paper as Lee & Park, 2024
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- Authors
- Lee, N. Y., & Park, A.
- Affiliations
- Yonsei University (KR)
- Korea University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Park, Ahran
- Venue
- Journalism
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2023-03-27
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 900-920
- ISSN
- 1464-8849 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-3001
- OpenAlex
- W4361003866
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 10.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journalism (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Yonsei University Research Fund (2022-22-0134)
- Yonsei Signature Research Cluster Program (2022-22-0008)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Harassment
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Workplace Violence and Bullying
- Social Sciences › Communication › Journalism and Media Studies
- Keywords
- online harassment, journalists, psychological trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, intention to leave the profession, cyberstalking, hacking, personal information disclosure, gender differences
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