Dans l'atelier de la chercheuse. Comment étudier les violences contre les journalistes ?

This article examines the methodological choices made as part of a study of violence and insecurity experienced by French-speaking journalists in Belgium. I explain how my position as a former freelance journalist, but also as a woman, a feminist and a campaigner for the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, guided my thinking in collecting and analysing data on this sensitive research subject - taking care, for example, to avoid any form of secondary victimisation of the respondents. My approach is in line with Donna Haraway's (1988) concept of situated knowledges, which postulates that knowledge is always partial and embodied, influenced by the experiences and position of the individual producing it.

Sample

In order to capture the diversity of journalistic trajectories and experiences of insecurity, I first surveyed all the media in French-speaking Belgium, before sending an online questionnaire to journalists of 109 publications. Adopting an inclusive conception of journalism (Alonso et al., 2019), the aim of this survey was also to include freelance journalists and/or those who did not meet the criteria for a press card. At the end of the study, willing participants could leave their contact details for an interview. I conducted twenty-eight open interviews with journalists from different media, with different profiles, statuses and areas of specialisation. Based on Joan Tronto's (1998) ethics of care, the interviews included active listening techniques to ensure a framework of trust and sensitivity in the gathering of potentially vulnerable testimonies.

Main Findings

By outlining these methodological choices and the challenges encountered, this article offers points of reflection for Journalism Studies researchers about the media samples usually studied in French-speaking Belgium. It also contributes to the debate on the relationship between engagement and knowledge production, and suggests some guidelines for conducting interviews on sensitive research subjects.