Journalists operating within newsrooms that lack a system for dealing with online harassment, as well as freelancers, said that colleagues and friends were the most important source of support when targeted with harassment. The possibility to share concerns with colleagues who have had similar experiences gives a feeling of not being alone in the storm and reinforces the vital idea that the community of journalists will stand together.
The importance of peer support, a practice that developed out of the spontaneous need for journalists to share the pain they face, is such that well-developed strategies for countering online harassment also include, among other remedies, a structured form of peer support. This support typically foresees the appointment and training of certain members of the newsroom who can be easily identified as being in a strong position to offer help, independently of hierarchic structures and reporting lines.
Still, while peer support is often the only remedy available and although it can provide some degree of support, there is a sense that this support is limited. Furthermore, other consequences of online harassment – such as the loss of credibility resulting from being insulted on public platforms or the self-censorship to which this pressure may naturally lead – require much more thorough strategies that only some newsrooms have so far been able to adopt.