Key takeaways from this year's International Journalism Festival

No images? Click here [link removed]

April updateWelcome to the Thomson Reuters Foundation's monthly newsletter! Reflections from our CEO, Antonio Zappulla, on this year's International Journalism Festival

Press freedom is facing a dangerous turning point:

Recent foreign aid cuts have put global newsrooms in jeopardyNew 'foreign agent' laws - a collection of state-led legal penalties, stigmatisation efforts and burdensome regulations designed to restrict the work of independent media organisations that receive foreign funding - continue to roll inJournalists are increasingly discredited, intimidated, and silenced by disinformation campaigns, harassment, and imprisonment

In spite of this, the remarkable solidarity and resilience that I witnessed at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia [[link removed]] has left me feeling a sense of hope and determination.

We heard extraordinary testimonies from individuals who are taking significant risks to speak truth to power. As I look back on this year's festival, I am encouraged by the willingness and drive from journalists, media freedom advocates, legal experts and donors to double down, unite and fight for a free media ecosystem.

Read Antonio's reflections in full [[link removed]]

At this year's festival, we hosted and participated in the following sessions:

Enemy of the people? The role of the media in an era of rising authoritarianism [[link removed]] Closing the AI adoption gap [[link removed]] Silencing the press: The global spread of foreign agent laws and their impact on journalism [[link removed]]

Watch the recordings from our panels below.

Watch 'Enemy of the people' [[link removed]] Watch 'Closing the AI adoption gap' [[link removed]] Watch 'Silencing the press' [[link removed]]

April highlights from across the Foundation

Strengthening Independent Media

Over the past decade, we've witnessed a proliferation of 'foreign agent laws' being weaponised to silence independent media. These laws are now spreading fast across Central and Eastern Europe.

In response, we are scaling up our operations.

Our new Legal Service for Independent Media [[link removed]] offers tailored support to equip journalists, newsrooms and media freedom focused non-profits to counter these threats and strengthen their resilience and sustainability.

But this work cannot be done in isolation - it requires a coordinated strategy of resistance to protect and defend global press freedom.

Find out more about the growing threat of 'foreign agent' laws [[link removed]] Enabling Access to the Law

Our 2024 Index of Pro Bono [[link removed]] marks the 10th anniversary of the Index, providing a unique opportunity to explore how pro bono is evolving across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and North America.

This year's Index saw that 74% of Australian lawyers were engaged in some form of pro bono work.

And in Latin America, countries with more institutionalised pro bono, like Colombia and Mexico, are leading the way on pro bono hours, tracking significantly above the regional average.

Explore more regional trends from this year's Index [[link removed]] Promoting Responsible Business

Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive orders to roll back federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, many large US corporations across the tech and finance sectors have followed suit, announcing that they are dropping or overhauling DEI policies or schemes.

As the landscape for ESG continues to shift across the globe, we take a look back at our ' How can business leaders stand firm on responsible business commitments? [[link removed]]' panel from Trust Conference - moderated by our Director of Responsible Business, Katie Fowler [[link removed]].

Watch the full session now [[link removed]] Discover more in our focus areas: Strengthening Independent Media [[link removed]] Promoting Responsible Business [[link removed]] Enabling Access to the Law [[link removed]]

This month we recommend

LISTEN: How journalists can cover LGBTQ+ stories, with Enrique Anarte Lazo of Context [[link removed]] | Journalism.co.uk Podcast

LISTEN: ‘I Felt Ashamed.’ Why One Lawyer Resigned When His Firm Caved to Trump [[link removed]] | New York Times Podcast

READ: EU will not rip up tech rules for trade deal [[link removed]] | The Guardian

READ: As Trump silences Voice of America, Russia and China seize the opportunity to reshape Africa’s news ecosystem [[link removed]] | Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

We are the corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global content and technology company. We leverage our media, legal and data-driven expertise to strengthen independent journalism [[link removed]], enable access to the law [[link removed]] and promote responsible business [[link removed]].

Thanks for reading!

Don't regularly receive updates from us? Sign up to our newsletter [[link removed]].

Forward this email to a friend or colleague [link removed].

Share [[link removed]] Forward [link removed]

This email was sent to you by Thomson Reuters Foundation located at 5 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5AQ - a registered charity in the United Kingdom and the United States.

If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. If you do not wish to receive this type of correspondence in the future, contact us at [[email protected]] so that we can remove you from this list.

Thomson Reuters Foundation's terms and conditions and privacy statement can be found online at www.trust.org [[link removed]].

Photos courtesy of Reuters or Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Preferences [link removed] | Unsubscribe [link removed]