This is an opportunity provided by the Combatting Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery programme: Find out more

The global trade in human beings is bigger today than at any time in history. The International Labour Organization estimates that at least 27.6 million worldwide are victims of forced labour with an estimated 17.3 million exploited in the private sector. In India too, interconnected issues of human trafficking and labour exploitation remain a large and complicated problem with insufficient knowledge about the magnitude of the crisis which is often referred to as ‘modern slavery’. There is also little coverage about available solutions.  

Journalists have a vital and powerful role in unpacking this complex issue and producing impactful reporting that is nuanced, engaging and compelling.  

This May, Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) is offering a hybrid (zoom and in-person) journalism training titled “Reporting on Human Trafficking and Labour Exploitation – A Solutions Approach”. The 5-day training led by expert journalists will provide a deep dive into the complex topic from a Solutions Journalism angle, highlighting fresh approaches to stories that are more accessible to audiences. The programme will empower participants with the knowledge and skills to produce engaging and impactful reporting through solutions journalism and data visualization, and connect them to experts working on these issues. 

This year, the training also offers an in-person networking session and reception for journalists to meet experts working in the field of anti-trafficking and anti-slavery to learn from their work to foster connections and new story sources.

Journalists will conclude the course by presenting story pitches, the best of which will be selected with an offer to receive one-on-one mentoring and a story grant to publish your story. 

There is a limited budget for domestic travel support. Please let us know if you require financial support to travel to Mumbai through your application.

WHAT YOU WILL GAIN

• Understand the concepts, trends, and key issues surrounding Human Trafficking and Labour Exploitation
• A solutions journalism approach for a new angle to produce engaging and impactful reporting
• Data visualisation skills to help capture and communicate data driven reporting
• An opportunity to pitch story proposals at the end of the course to compete for a story grant and mentoring by expert journalist trainers. 

Make sure you do not miss this opportunity and apply before the 15th of May deadline. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, so please ensure to apply as soon as possible.

WHO CAN APPLY

• Applicants must be full-time journalists or regular contributors to media organisations in India. 
• Applicants must be fluent in English. The course will be hosted in English.
• Applicants must have a minimum of three years professional experience.  
• Applicants need access to a laptop for coursework. Using a mobile or smartphone will not be possible.
• Applicants must be able to commit the full 4 hours for online sessions and 8 hours for in-person sessions plus 1-2 hours each training day for homework and course preparation. (Lunch is included during this time and the training space will be made available after the training for out-of-class work).

PROGRAMME

TRF's training curriculum offers the newest and most relevant topics on India’s Human Trafficking and Labour Exploitation. The training will take a solutions journalism approach to provide a new method to break down and report on this complex topic. 

Participants will learn about the inter-related causes of human trafficking and labour exploitation and understand the role of big business and problematic supply chains. They will hear directly from and network with experts in the field working on solutions both at the policy level and those working closely with victims. There will be discussions on the ethics, risks, and legal dangers of reporting on this sensitive issue and training on how to interact sensitively with traumatised survivors. 

TRF’s world-class consultants, who are experienced international and regional journalists, will facilitate the interactive sessions.

WORKSHOP FORMAT

Dates: March 21 to 26 

• A series of interactive sessions will be conducted online and in-person and take place over five days. Lunch is provided for each in-person training day.
  • May 21, 22, 23 9:00-13:00
  • May 24 Off day (Travel day for those outside of Mumbai)
  • May 25: 9:00-17:00
  • May 26
    • 9:00-13:00 Training
    • 13:00-14:00 Lunch 
    • 15:00-18:00 Networking Session and Reception
  • May 29 and Evening of May 30: Online Pitching with allocated slots 

MEET YOUR TRAINERS

Lead Trainer: Kavita Chandran 

Kavita Chandran is a former financial journalist who has worked in newsrooms across the United States and Asia. She worked with Reuters News as a Training Editor in India and as FrontPage Editor with the Asia 

Top News team in Singapore. Prior to Reuters, Kavita was an editor at Bloomberg, New York. She is currently based in Singapore and works as a news consultant and journalism trainer for Thomson Reuters Foundation and the Solutions Journalism Network. She teaches journalism to undergraduate students in Murdoch University, and is adjunct faculty at S.P. Jain Global School of Management.

Co-Trainer: Roli Srivastava

Roli Srivastava is a Mumbai-based journalist with the Thomson Reuters Foundation and reports on just transition, gender, migration and inclusive economies, focusing mainly on India’s marginalized communities. In a career spanning over two decades, she has 

worked with major Indian newspapers including The Hindu where she was Deputy Editor and The Times of India where she was Editor, Special Projects. Her investigations have won her the Fetisov Journalism Award, Laadli Media and Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity. She won the Robert Bosch Stiftung’s India-Germany Media Ambassadors Fellowship (2015), has presented her stories at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference (2019, 2021) and is guest faculty at media schools.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND SUBMISSIONS

When applying you will be asked to upload the following documents - please have these ready:

• 2 relevant work samples (maximum file size 5 MB) 
• One or more story ideas surrounding human trafficking and labour exploitation in India. (Story ideas will not be shared beyond the TRF training team.)

-------------------------------

If you have any difficulties applying, please email moe.sasaki@thomsonreuters.com.

Photo: REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri