“We will not allow our journalism to be silenced or our colleagues to live in fear” – group editor-in-chief Lloyd Embley.
Today Reach announced the search for a candidate to fill a newly created online safety editor role.
Following an internal survey answered by over 550 employees, a task force of senior editorial and HR leaders have taken the step to dedicate a role to supporting employees receiving abuse or harassment because of their job.
The online safety editor will not only implement the online abuse guidelines and support employees but also lead efforts to prevent further abuse.
The role will lead discussions with social media platforms, resolving individual cases and pressing for action to improve the problem.
Embley commented: “Online abuse has become endemic in our industry. It can severely impact the mental health of our journalists and at times even threatens their physical safety. While we have always had a system in place to support and protect our colleagues, we felt that with online abuse only increasing across the industry we needed to dedicate a role to tackle it head on.
“We will not allow our journalism to be silenced or our colleagues to live in fear.”
The successful candidate will sit within the Audience team but will be available to support any employees receiving abuse or harassment.
Applications for the role are currently open on the Reach Careers site.
