Driving change with help from players
20 July 2020
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The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. It works to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies and promote human rights. Through news, media development, free legal assistance and convening initiatives, it combines its unique expertise to drive systemic change.
With a belief that societies around the world should be free, fair and informed, Thomson Reuters Foundation combines the twin powers of journalism and the law to work towards building global awareness of the critical issues faced by humanity, inspiring collective leadership and helping to shape a prosperous world where no-one is left behind.
The charity has been able to scale its world-class services thanks to the players of People’s Postcode Lottery and has received £1 million thanks to players’ support.
Thomson Reuters Foundation's recent video on how Coronavirus is affecting climate change.
A global news team reports from the ground in more than 70 countries, covering the new frontier of human rights, from investigating slavery in supply chains, to the human impact of climate change, to how data-driven technology and AI are impacting people. All of its news is distributed on the Reuters newswire, reaching an estimated daily audience of one billion readers.
For more than 35 years, it has promoted the highest standards in journalism by training reporters around the world to cover issues relevant to their local context, accurately and impartially.
Today, it works to strengthen local and national journalism, improve media ethics, standards and regulation, combat misinformation, and explore and shape the future of the profession. Achieving this through newsroom consultancy, journalism training and mentoring, capacity-building, and via funding of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford.
It also run the world’s largest pro bono legal network, TrustLaw. Working with leading law firms, to facilitate free legal support, ground-breaking research and resources for NGOs and social enterprises in 175 countries. Its network has grown to 5,800 members, including more than 950 law firms and in-house legal teams.
Finally, it convenes experts to address critical issues linked to areas of its work. An annual flagship event, Trust Conference, brings together frontline activists, thought leaders and top decision-makers in the areas of media freedom, inclusive economies, and human rights. While it has been postponed for this year, it has just launched a new interview show, TC|Talks, featuring world-renowned experts who would otherwise have held the stage at the forum, which airs on Trust Conference YouTube channel every month. Additionally, thematic working groups are convened around the world to share expertise, drive new partnerships, facilitate media coverage and produce legal research.
These services have never been more critically needed than during the global health emergency we now face.
Thanks to support, Thomson Reuters Foundation has been able to develop a COVID-19 response that has included training cohorts of journalists to report on the pandemic in areas most impacted around the world, create a dedicated section on its news site to cover of the impact of coronavirus on people, society and human rights, and launch a raft of legal resources for NGOs and social enterprises currently facing overwhelming challenges.