Targeted in Platformed Spaces: Online Harassment and the Recalibration of Journalistic Role Conception in Kenya

This study uses a nationally representative survey of Kenyan journalists (N = 1,022) to examine (a) the nature of online harassment, (b) the intersectional influence of gender and geography (rural vs. urban), and (c) its impact on professional role conception. Findings reveal that although overall reported online harassment is moderate, the abuse is severe, marked by reputation-based attacks and psychological intimidation. Notably, male journalists reported higher frequencies of certain forms of online harassment, while rural journalists exhibited unique vulnerabilities, suggesting that infrastructural isolation compounds digital risk. Self-censorship emerged as the primary coping mechanism. Crucially, regression analysis shows that frequent exposure to online harassment triggers a fundamental shift in professional identity: it is negatively associated with the “information-provider” role and positively associated with the “critical-advocate” role. These results suggest that online harassment structurally reconfigures journalists’ normative function, potentially pushing African journalism toward a more defensive or adversarial posture in the digital public sphere.