About our organization:

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.

How we can help you cover the 2024 elections:

Early data from a study being conducted by the International Women’s Media Foundation has found that 40% of reporters covering the U.S. election have already experienced online abuse, which is only going to escalate as election day nears. Online abuse—which can translate into physical violence, take a toll on our mental health, and edge reporters out of the field—is a significant threat to the ability of newsrooms to carry out their vital work. It particularly affects journalists who identify as women, POC, and/or LGBTQ+ folks, and can disproportionately affect smaller, digital native, and local newsrooms that serve historically marginalized communities. 

We offer four workshops that equip media professionals and their employers with the tools and knowledge to protect themselves, their colleagues, and their employees from online abuse while covering election-related stories.

• Online Abuse Self-Defense Training: This session equips journalists covering elections, as well as their allies and employers, with practical tools and strategies to defend against online abuse. Taking a holistic approach to digital safety, we’ll talk about how to prepare, respond, take care of yourself, and support others.

• Bolster Your Digital Safety: An Anti-Hacking, Anti-Doxing Workshop (in partnership with Freedom of the Press Foundation): This election season, learn to better protect yourself from impersonation, hacking, and doxing (the publishing of private info). With your devices in hand, join PEN America and Freedom of the Press Foundation for an interactive workshop where we’ll teach you how to audit your social media accounts, tighten your privacy settings, and track your personal information online so you can maintain the public profile you need to do your job while staying safe.

• Bystander Intervention Training: What to Do When you See Online Abuse (in partnership with Right To Be): Each and every one of us can be an ally when we see our colleagues attacked online, especially during a contentious election cycle. Join PEN America and Right To Be for this interactive training, where we’ll give you the tools you need to intervene safely and effectively when you witness online abuse using Right To Be’s 5 D’s of Bystander Intervention.

• Employer Best Practices Workshop: Supporting Staff and Freelancers Facing Online Abuse: Online abuse directly undermines efforts to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive journalism industry. In this session, PEN America supports organizational leadership in mapping out concrete strategies for how to better protect and support staff and freelancers in preparing for, responding to, and mitigating the damage of online abuse during this election season.

Have questions about using this resource? Here’s where to reach out: digtalsafety@pen.org