Online harassment is not new to women, especially when it comes to female journalists and bloggers. In fact, about two-thirds of women journalists have faced threats, intimidation or abuse about the work they do, according to the International Women'?s Media Foundation and the International News Safety Institute. The threat even extends to family or friends a quarter of the time.
Michelle Ferrier has been a victim of cyberharassment herself. Wanting to put an end to it, she founded TrollBusters: Fighting Cyberharassmentwith Love. She?'s the Associate Dean for Innovation, Research/Creative Activity and Graduate Studies at OhioUniversity?'sScripps College of Communication; Associate Professor of E.W. Scripps School of Journalism; President of Journalism That Matters; and Principal Investigator for The Media Deserts Project. TrollBusters provides a platform where journalists can type in the URL of an inappropriate message and locate the offender or ?troll.? Michelle Ferrier joins us to talk about the platform.