News organizations, platforms, and public institutions need to build a joint response system to prevent reporters from being exposed to harms such as stalking and online harassment during the reporting process, a forum proposed.
The Korea Women Journalists Association held "2026 Forum W: How to Protect Threatened Reporters" on Monday at the National Press Club on the 20th floor of the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. The forum was arranged to examine threats reporters face during reporting and coverage—such as stalking, digital sexual violence, and online harassment—and to discuss protection systems at the newsroom and government level.
Kwak A-ram, a reporter in the culture department of the Chosun Ilbo, gave a presentation titled "When a Reporter Becomes a Stalking Victim," speaking about the stalking she personally experienced and the unreasonable and unjust situations she encountered during the criminal litigation and trial process.
"Even though we do the same work, female reporters and male reporters live in completely different worlds, and the world female reporters belong to is far more violent," Kwak said. "Crime victimization that occurs during the reporting process must not be treated as a personal matter," she said, emphasizing the need for in-house reporting guidelines and a legal support system.
"Under the current system, victims are excluded on the grounds that they are not parties to the trial. In such a system, it is difficult for victims to be protected," Kwak said. "We must fulfill the press's inherent duty to monitor the system and correct injustices." She recently published "The Outstanding Victim," a reportage covering the victimization and the criminal litigation and trial she experienced over six years.
The second presenter, Heo Min-sook, a legislative research officer at the National Assembly Research Service, gave a presentation on the theme "Disappearing Voices, Newsrooms to Protect." Heo discussed the structural risk in which online violence against female reporters shrinks the public sphere in an environment of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital platforms. Citing the response systems of major overseas news organizations, she also offered proposals on "ways to protect and support reporters."
"A paradox arises in which the more a field requires women to know more, observe longer, and connect more, the more endangered female reporters become," Heo said. "If this is not resolved, our society comes to see victimization in fewer, more fragmentary, and more distorted ways, and it weakens the very way society understands dating violence, intimate-partner killings, and hate crimes." She added, "Responding through efforts inside news organizations alone is difficult. We need to secure direct channels with tech platforms and public institutions," stressing that "a joint protection system must be established."
Choi Moon-sun, president of the Korea Women Journalists Association, said, "Reporters who have suffered harm can be found without much difficulty, but cases of proper redress are not many." She added, "I hope this forum will become a starting point for creating a safer workplace and society."
Forum W is an event arranged by the Korea Women Journalists Association to discuss major issues in the journalism field and tasks for improving newsroom culture. This Forum W was held with support from the Korea Press Foundation's government advertising commission funding.
