Journalism is a pillar of democracy. If journalists feel threatened doing their jobs, important stories may go untold, and democracy is undermined.
In recent days, many Canadian journalists have been receiving particularly vile sexist and racist comments and threats, often through social media. Women and people of colour, in particular, have been targeted.
This is illegal. It is harassment and hate, and it must not be tolerated.
As a union that represents 6,000 media workers, we call on law enforcement to urgently investigate these incidents and prosecute those responsible.
We also call on all Canadians to use social media to speak out against this hate and to stand up for journalism – and decency.
We are consulting legal counsel and we will be relaying our concerns directly to the RCMP. We will also be working with journalism groups, the labour movement, academics, and employers, on a strategy to stop the campaign of hate.
As journalism goes, so goes democracy.