April update

Welcome to the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s April update. In this newsletter, you’ll find highlights from across our areas of work, as well as the latest opportunities for you to get involved. If you don’t regularly receive our newsletter, you can subscribe here.

Reflections on the International Festival of Journalism in Perugia   

This month, we joined journalists, press freedom advocates and legal experts from around the world at the Internal Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy. 

The Foundation launched a new report, 'Weaponising the Law: Attacks on Media Freedom' in collaboration with Columbia University's Tow Center for Digital Journalism. This first-of-its-kind report identifies eight key legal threats to independent journalism worldwide. National legislation, government regulations and judicial decisions, as well as reports by media and civil society groups, were analysed alongside the lived experiences of 500 journalists in our global network, and the insights of 37 renowned media freedom experts. The report illustrates these trends through spotlight case studies and eye-opening statistics. Our CEO, Antonio Zappulla, and report author, Joel Simon, discussed the key findings and recommendations in a panel discussion at the festival with media and legal experts. 

Antonio shared his five takeaways from this year’s event, from the impact of artificial intelligence on journalism to the importance of countering audience desensitisation when it comes to climate reporting, and how we must combat growing legal threats to press freedom. 

 Announcing our speakers for the TrustLaw Awards ceremony   

There’s still time to register for a free spot at the TrustLaw Awards ceremony on Tuesday, 16 May in London, UK. This annual event is an opportunity to celebrate TrustLaw’s remarkable pro bono community and showcase some of last year’s most impactful projects.

This year’s ceremony will feature two fireside chats: on media freedom and climate justice. Our expert speakers will share insight into their work in these sectors and discuss how the law can be utilised to drive impact around the world.  

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC is an international human rights lawyer and expert in journalists’ safety and media freedom. Earlier this year, she won a landmark case jointly leading Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa's defence against spurious tax charges levelled at her news organisation, Rappler.  

Steve Trent is an environmental campaigner who has led investigations documenting the corrupt, brutal and devastating practices that have damaged wildlife populations and natural ecosystems across Asia, Africa and South America. More information on our speakers can be found on our Eventbrite page. 

The ceremony will be followed by a drinks reception and the opportunity to network with award nominees, lawyers and civil society representatives. 

April updates from across the Foundation

Media Freedom: 

2023 Kurt Schork Awards: Applications close 31 May 

There’s one month to go until applications close for the 2023 Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism. The Awards, hosted by the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund, are split into three categories recognising freelance journalists, local reporters and news fixers who report on conflict, corruption, human rights transgressions and injustice.

This year, the application process for the news fixer awards has changed to enable applicants to submit their own entry supported by three references from foreign correspondents they have worked with. The range of skills displayed by a news fixer can be vast and the jury will look for evidence of skills such as displaying excellent news judgment, suggesting story leads and providing logistical support. 

The 2023 winners will not only win a $5,000 prize, but they will also have the opportunity to share their experiences at Trust Conference – the Foundation’s annual flagship event.   

Applications close on Wednesday, 31 May. Find out more about the Awards here.

Inclusive Economies: 

Safeguarding personal privacy by reforming outdated data protection laws in Argentina  

Argentina pioneered Latin American data regulation by having the first robust data protection law, but this regulation, enacted in 2000, is now outdated and needs reform.   

TrustLaw, the Foundation’s pro-bono legal service, supported Democracia en Red, an Argentine non-profit organisation, in their bid to submit a new data protection bill to the Argentine Congress. The team connected Democracia en Red with law firms across Latin America, Europe and Canada, who helped coordinate the project and produce legal research on legislation on data protection. This led to the launch of a data protection report focused on a comparative study of nine countries. Read more here. 

Human Rights:

Indigenous Indonesians face new risks in 'green' climate drive     

This month, Context – our digital news platform - was a media partner of the 2023 Skoll World Forum, an annual gathering of social innovators from around the world.

In this piece, Laurie Goering, Climate Editor, unpacks the challenges facing Indigenous Indonesian communities including growing threats to their land, such as expanding palm oil plantations. Indonesia has the world's largest reserves of nickel, which is used extensively in making batteries, and the country aims to become an electric vehicle powerhouse. The global shift to green energy, and such projects take land, which impacts many Indigenous Indonesians’ rights to this essential resource.   

Discover more in our focus areas:

Media Freedom  |  Inclusive Economies  |  Human Rights

This month we recommend

READ: More forest, more profit? Brazil looks to build a new 'bioeconomy | Context

READ:  Rana Plaza: ten years after the Bangladesh factory collapse, we are no closer to fixing modern slavery | The Conversation

LISTEN: The Exiled Media Podcast | The Network of Exiled Media Outlets (NEMO) 

READ: Britain's foreign aid: Where does the money go? | Context

READ: Carbon dioxide removal: the tech that is polarising climate science | The Guardian 

READ: News for the powerful and privileged: how misrepresentation and underrepresentation of disadvantaged communities undermine their trust in news | The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism 

Opportunities:

Legal Programme Manager, TrustLaw: (12 months): Based in London, the Legal Programme Manager will drive the implementation of a new project focused on data and digital rights and the human rights implications of artificial intelligence (DDR/AI) in Mexico and Uganda 

Head of Delivery, TrustLaw: Based in London, the Head of Delivery will oversee the delivery and operations of the TrustLaw service and certain initiatives to ensure the successful performance and growth of the service globally and work closely with the wider senior leadership team to oversee certain donor-funded projects that are implemented by the TrustLaw team.

Programme Officer, TrustLaw, Global: Based in London or Nairobi, the Programme Officer, Global will work closely with the Programme Manager, Global and Head of Delivery on a range of TrustLaw global activities, including the TrustLaw Awards, coordinating with enabling functions and supporting the development and implementation of a variety of planning, impact and learning, communications and events strategies and approaches. 

We are the corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. We work to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights.

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