What does it take to protect impact journalism in a high-risk media environment, especially as women and gender-diverse journalists?
This is the reality Erica Hensley works within every day.
As Deputy Managing Editor of The Fuller Project, an award-winning global newsroom focused on catalyzing change for women and gender-diverse people, Erica sits at the intersection of investigative reporting, newsroom leadership and press freedom defence.
Erica’s journey from public health reporting to editorial leadership mirrors the evolution of The Fuller Project itself: a move toward deeper community connection and a radical reimagining of what “impact” looks like in journalism.
The Fuller Project: A Global Investigative Newsroom Focused on Women and Gender Justice
Founded in 2015, The Fuller Project has existed to fill a massive void in global news. While major headlines often focus on climate change, conflict, or tech, they rarely highlight how these shifts disproportionately affect women and gender-diverse people.
“Since 2015, our reporting has helped end life-threatening practices, led to large-scale releases of public data, and prompted the introduction of new legislation.” Erica said.
By reframing who journalism is for, and who it is led by, The Fuller Project challenges long-standing blind spots in global reporting.
“For me, journalism has always been about impact and community – reaching, listening to and spotlighting underserved audiences,” she explains.
Why Investigative Newsrooms Face Growing Legal and Financial Threats
The journalism industry is at a crossroads, and Erica is at the heart of The Fuller Project’s transformation.
As newsrooms move away from traditional models, the organization is redefining sustainability through “audience-centered” reporting.
By piloting social-first journalism, vertical video, and new newsletter formats, the team is ensuring that vital information reaches the people who need it most, in the formats they actually use.
However, this groundbreaking work comes with significant risks.
Investigative outlets are increasingly targeted by frivolous lawsuits and Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), often funded by powerful institutions looking to silence non-profit newsrooms.
For Erica and her team, joining Reporters Shield was a strategic necessity.
Why Reporters Shield Matters for Investigative Outlets
“In order to keep doing our job, we must bolster our capacity to defend our work and press freedom as a whole.
“Investigative outlets have long faced physical and legal threats, but with the accelerated rate at which journalism has been vilified and targeted as the source of polarization rather than the antidote, it’s harder than ever to sustain this work,” she said.
Frivolous lawsuits, SLAPPs and legal intimidation tactics are increasingly used to silence investigative reporting, particularly by powerful corporations and institutions with vast resources.
“While our media liability protects us in the US, Reporters Shield offers an unmatched opportunity to tap into an international network of experts in an environment where gender-related reporting is increasingly seen as contentious.”
Women Investigative Journalists Reporting Under Threat Worldwide
Investigative journalism has always carried risk. What has changed is the scale, speed and intent of the attacks.
Nowhere are these pressures felt more acutely than by women and gender-diverse investigative journalists.
Erica highlights a disturbing trend: the rise of tech-facilitated gender-based violence.
Women and non-binary journalists face a barrage of doxxing, deepfakes, and harassment that routinely follows them from the digital world into their physical lives.
Despite these “near-constant threats to their physical and mental health,” journalists like Acayo Nancy Cirino Oyikiin in Sudan and Quimy de León in Guatemala continue to push the boundaries of the craft.
“They do this despite near-constant threats to their physical and mental health, much less livelihoods, threats that are often amplified precisely because of the subjects they cover and the communities they serve.”
The Future of Impact Journalism: Diversity and Collaboration in Media
When asked what keeps her optimistic in such a challenging climate, Erica finds hope in journalists and media leaders reimagining the future of impact journalism.
By centering community, collaboration and accountability, and by confronting the industry’s past failures, journalists are proving that investigative newsrooms can be both sustainable and deeply mission-driven.
We’re proud to have the Fuller Project as a member of Reporters Shield, ensuring that newsrooms, publishers, NGOs and civil society organisations, including those reporting to center women, can continue to hold power to account without fear.
Find out more about our membership here.
