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June update
Welcome to the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s June 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.
LGBTQ+ safe houses, self-identification bills and TikTok:
Celebrating Pride Month
LGBTQ+ rights are human rights. From our LGBTQ+ news platform Openly to our work facilitating legal support for organisations protecting LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and refugees, inclusivity is integral to our mission of strengthening free, fair and informed societies.
This Pride Month, we are celebrating these initiatives, our LGBTQ+ colleagues, and the global LGBTQ+ community. We are also taking time to recognise the enormous work that needs to happen before true equality is achieved.
Read our CEO Antonio Zappulla’s thoughts on how the world has changed for LGBTQ+ people in the 20 years since he came out, and the challenges facing LGBTQ+ communities today.
Legal support for the UK social enterprise protecting LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and refugees
Homosexuality is illegal in 67 countries around the world. In 11 of these, it is a crime punishable by death. Sadly, this is just one example of the persecution that forces countless LGBTQ+ people to flee their homes to find safety, many to the UK. Through the Foundation’s legal pro bono service, TrustLaw, we have been supporting the social enterprise Micro Rainbow to operate ‘safe houses’ for LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers, offering them safety and a way to connect to the LGBTQ+ community in their new country.
Teaching media literacy to combat misinformation about LGBTQ+ communities
Enrique Anarte is a believer in the power of platforms like TikTok to combat the spread of misinformation. His position as TikTok Lead for Openly has recently seen him selected as an ambassador for the Poynter Institute’s MediaWise programme. As an ambassador he will teach LGBTQ+ audiences digital media literacy through the lens of fact-checking and journalism. In this recent interview Enrique talks about the initiative, his motivations, and why media literacy is so important for LGBTQ+ communities.
How Europe remains divided on LGBTQ+ rights this Pride Month
From the EU’s legal response to Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law to the joy of trans activists reacting to Spain’s new self-determination bill, our new Pocket collection brings you stories from a Europe divided by its attitudes to LGBTQ+ rights. This collection is the fifth in a series curated in partnership with our media platform Context, showcasing the Foundation’s coverage of global issues. To mark Pride Month, this edition features a variety of in-depth reporting from our LGBTQ+ news platform, Openly, alongside the biggest LGBTQ+ rights stories happening across Europe.
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June updates from across the Foundation
Media Freedom:
Voices from the frontline: The story of a Ukrainian reporter’s journey through Russian-occupied territory
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Olesya* bravely returned to her home in Kherson to report on the realities of the conflict. Since then, she has relocated to Prague, taking a dangerous route through Russian-occupied territory. We spoke to Olesya as part of our ‘Voices from the frontline’ series, which seeks to amplify the work of Ukrainian journalists and media professionals who the Foundation has supported. You can read the full story on our website.
*Name changed to protect the reporter’s identity
Inclusive Economies:
Setting the agenda for safe, sustainable communities
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is mandated to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. Since 2018, the annual UN-Habitat Assembly has been a focal point to discuss inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable communities. The Foundation’s journalism platform, Context, was a media partner at this year’s Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, and our Inclusive Economies Editor Amruta Byatnal was present to moderate an important session on ‘The Key enablers driving the SDGs in the time of crisis’. You can watch the session in full on the UN website.
AI to content moderation: Five highlights from RightsCon
RightsCon - the annual digital rights conference hosted by advocacy group Access Now - is a rare place where officials at big tech companies mix with some of their biggest critics. Executives and government officials share the spotlight with whistleblowers and civil society organisations that lobby for tech policies that protect the world's most vulnerable users. Context reporters Fabio Teixeira and Avi Asher-Schapiro were at the event to speak about their award-winning investigation into the crypto-carbon market in Brazil. You can read their top five takeaways from the event here.
Human Rights:
In-depth reporting on global human rights issues
Our accurate and unbiased reporting provides critical insight into how policy developments are impacting human rights around the world:
Discover more in our focus areas:
This month we recommend
Digital News Report 2023 from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s annual Digital News Report investigates and identifies trends in digital news consumption around the world. This year’s report looks in detail at issues like low trust, declining engagement, and the uncertain business environment that digital news outlets face.
- READ: Overview and key findings
- LISTEN: Podcast – Digital News Report 2023: What you need to know
- EXPLORE: Interactive data and build your own charts
Read, listen and watch: A selection of June’s most thought-provoking content
LISTEN: Honey Mahogany, one of the first Drag Queen Story Hour performers | Gender Reveal podcast
READ: EU Parliament votes to require companies to introduce climate transition plans | ESG Today
READ: UK judges to be given powers to dismiss oppressive SLAPPs lawsuits at early stage | The Guardian
WATCH: Resisting homophobia: The colonial origins of anti-gay laws | The Resistance Bureau
READ: Tunisians mourn a hard-fought freedom rapidly slipping away | The New York Times
LISTEN: Pride and prejudice - LGBTQ+ around the world | Reuters World News podcast
READ: Media freedom and democracy: Africans in four countries weigh up thorny questions about state control | The Conversation
Opportunities:
Director of Inclusive Economies Programme: The Director of the Inclusive Economies Programme will shepherd the expansion of TRF’s portfolio of initiatives and products aimed at fostering responsible business models globally. You will provide in-depth technical knowledge as well as strong leadership, conceptualising and delivering impact-focussed initiatives that mobilise internal and external stakeholders. You will also lead the growth of TRF’s latest voluntary disclosure standards product. You will drive the expansion of the initiative by successfully engaging new companies willing to partake in the initiative, and by securing new investors interested in acquiring the dataset. Additionally, you will play a critical role in enabling the integration of TRF’s latest product within the existing portfolio of activities. Based in London.
Inclusive Economies Manager, Africa: The Inclusive Economies Manager, Africa will support the Inclusive Economies team in the region, helping to engage the private sector on behalf of the Inclusive Economy team. Along with managing and implementing key Inclusive Economy activities, they will support a programme to improve the accountability, transparency, and effectiveness of domestic tax systems in target countries by strengthening the capacities of media and civil society and facilitating collaboration on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) and taxation related issues. Based in Nairobi.
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.
