While we hope that you will get on with everyone in the newsroom and get treated fairly and respectfully by all your colleagues, it can happen that someone makes you feel uncomfortable at work.
It may not be colleagues either – as a journalist you will be speaking with many people. While most encounters outside the newsroom go well, there unfortunately can be times when people are unkind or make you feel uncomfortable.
Whenever they happen, however, it is important you address these situations and speak with someone. These are some steps on what to do if someone makes you feel uncomfortable during your internship.
Review the situation to understand whether something more serious is happening
It is good to review the situation and what it is that is making you uncomfortable as it may well be bullying, harassment or discrimination. To address what is happening, it is good to be aware of what each of these incidents are to best address them. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has some helpful information on these issues in the workplace and how to deal with them: https://www.acas.org.uk/discrimination-bullying-and-harassment
Bullying
According to ACAS, bullying can be described as ‘unwanted behaviour from a person or group that is either offensive, intimidating, malicious, insulting, or an abuse or misuse of power that undermines, humiliates, or causes physical or emotional harm to someone.’
These things can happen anywhere – online, via emails or social media; or offline, in the office or during other work-related events.
ACAS says examples of bullying at work could include:
– someone has spread a malicious rumour about you
– someone keeps putting you down in meetings
– your boss keeps giving you a heavier workload than everyone else
– someone has put humiliating, offensive or threatening comments or photos on social media
– someone at the same or more junior level as you keeps undermining your authority
Harassment
There are different types of harassment. According to ACAS, sexual harassment is ‘unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature.’ It is also harassment ‘when bullying or unwanted behaviour is about any of the following protected characteristics under discrimination law (Equality Act 2010):
– age
– disability
– gender reassignment
– race
– religion or belief
– sex
– sexual orientation
What to do – get someone else’s opinion
Speak to people you trust: This can be friends, a family member, another intern. It is good to open up to people you know you can trust to get their opinion and support (at work or outside it).
Speak to your host: Your host will be a media professional. It is possible that they have seen someone else experience what you are feeling or maybe even have experienced it themselves. Either they, you might find it valuable to speak with them and get their take.
Speak to a union: Unions are there to support members not just when it comes to worker’s rights, but also when you are facing uncomfortable, unfair, or adverse experiences at work. They will often have trained, confidential advisors on hand who will not just listen, but also be able to help when it comes to taking action.
Taking action
Collect evidence:
This does not need to be hyper detailed, but even a record or diary on what and when the incident happened, and how it made you feel. It is also good to familiarise yourself with the company’s processes on complaints should you need to take it forward.
If there is physical evidence; such as emails or screenshots of social media posts, or another person that witnessed the event, this is good to collect, too. However, do not feel deterred from reporting what happened and if someone made you feel uncomfortable if you don’t have these things. Even without, your complaint is still valid.
Speak to the person making you feel uncomfortable directly (but only if you feel safe to do so!):
Some people may not realise their actions are causing you distress. While this does not excuse their behaviour, it is still worth trying to speak with the person directly, if you think it is safe to do so and you feel comfortable doing it. If their actions were indeed unintended and you feel you can raise this with them, it would stop the complaint from going further.
How you have this conversation is up to you. It could be in-person between just the two of you, alongside another person you trust or a trade union representative, or you could send an email if you prefer laying out the situation in writing.
ACAS says that when having these conversations, it is helpful to:
– explain how their behaviour makes you feel – use different examples: “when you did this, it made me feel this way.”
– be firm, not aggressive – try to remain calm, as much as possible and ask the person who accompanies you to step in, if needed
– stick to the facts – writing it down ahead of time might help
Get support from the people you opened up to:
No matter if it was a colleague, manager, editor, someone from HR or your union rep, use their help and support to take the complaint forward if you need to.
Credit: Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash
