TUESDAY 7 JUNE 2022

In this newsletter you'll find a job opening and a link to join our next seminar with an award-winning journalist based in South Africa. You'll also find a new piece on journalism and artificial intelligence, information about our Director of Research vacancy and everything you need to know about the launch events we are hosting for this year's Digital News Report, which will be published on 15 June.  
 

🕒 This newsletter is 946 words, a 6-minute read. If you don't receive it yet, join our mailing list here. If you want to receive our daily roundup with readings on journalism, join our Telegram channel here.
 

Explore Digital News Report 2021 here | Check out data from your country | Download a PDF version | Read our methodology

The event. On Wednesday we are hosting the next event in our global journalism seminars series. Our guest will be South Africa-based journalist Ryan Lenora Brown, who will talk about her investigation into garment factories in Lesotho. Check out videos and summaries of our previous seminars on our website.

The story. Brown's investigation is the first in a series of pieces by the Associated Press looking at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of African women. Lockdowns worldwide dramatically decreased demand in the global garment industry, meaning women who would usually have earned their living in clothing factories were left in the lurch. 

If you want to read more… Brown has also written extensively about fast fashion’s impacts on Africa, including a piece exploring its environmental cost through the journey of a pair of Levi’s jeans made in Lesotho which first travelled to the US before being resold second-hand in South Africa. Read the story in the Christian Science Monitor.

📆 Wednesday 8 June | 🕐 13:00 UK time | ✍️ Sign up here

🚓 At least 19 journalists have been detained in Ethiopia in a crackdown by authorities | 🏛️ 5 court hearings of media workers in Belarus are set to begin this month | 📺 Latvia’s media watchdog banned 80 channels registered in Russia | 📱 Google has written to Canadian lawmakers to raise concerns about the Online News Act | ⚖️ Almost a quarter of transnational SLAPPs are in the UK, according to data collected by the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe.

Stay tuned. On Wednesday 15 June we'll publish this year's Digital News Report, the most comprehensive study of news consumption worldwide. The latest edition includes chapters on audience polarisation, the rise of newsletters, the perception of news coverage about climate change and the war in Ukraine and how young people get their news.
 

🙋🏾‍♀️ Managing our research team. We are seeking an academic with a significant reputation in research on journalism to take on the role of Director of Research at the Reuters Institute. The person we select will be a part of the senior leadership team and represent the Institute internationally. The deadline to apply is midday (UK time) on Tuesday 14 June. | Find out more and apply

"Objectivity or impartiality is your fallback plan. If you fall short from gathering enough evidence to be able to tell me definitively what happened, then go and gather all the different perspectives on it and settle for that but you shouldn't aspire for that"

Hamza Syed
Creator of 'The Trojan Horse Affair' podcast
Video and transcript here

🇦🇷 How a local newsroom is using AI. Since March 2022, Argentinian newspaper Diario Huarpe has published thousands of football reports using automation technology. Automation has enabled this small newsroom (there is only one reporter covering sports every weekend) to offer more comprehensive coverage of San Juan, a province with a population of around 738,000 people. Our contributor Laura Oliver has spoken to special projects manager Pablo Pechuan to know how they are using AI for covering sports and the weather. | Read the piece

🇷🇺 Russian journalists in exile. Journalists forced to flee Russia are still working to reach young Russians with the truth of the war in Ukraine, despite facing a wide range of difficulties. “These journalists occupy a kind of netherworld, not welcome in Russia yet eyed warily abroad because of where they come from. They have become stateless and homeless yet determined to fight the information war,” Roman Anin and Sharon Moshavi write. | NiemanReports

• Read this piece from Benjamin Bathke that we published on the same topic. 

🧪 Science reporting and online harassment. Science journalists are feeling the impact of trolling, Lisa Palmer and Silvio Waisbord write. “Sadly, online attacks and threats have become the new normal in many newsrooms, with the result being that journalists are subject to a form of mob censorship.” | The Wire

⚖️ A threat to freedom of the press. RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has called on the parliament of northern Cyprus to reject a bill that could be used to imprison journalists and violate freedom of expression: “The risk of arbitrary decisions would be great and the law would become unpredictable for those directly affected.” | RSF

🧱 Intimidation campaign. US journalist Lauren Chooljian has been targeted by multiple attacks including bricks thrown at her house and incidents at three other homes tied to her, Jonathan Edwards reports. “Investigators are considering the possibility that the attacks are linked to her work as a senior reporter and producer for New Hampshire Public Radio. The possible motive: revenge for stories she’s published in the past, intimidation to silence her, or both.” | The Washington Post

More information on what we do...

Today's email was written by Eduardo Suárez, Matthew Leake and Marina Adami.