Thomson Reuters Foundation

Thanks to support from Microsoft, we’ve been empowering newsrooms in South Africa to strategically and ethically adopt AI. Since participating in the workshops, the newsrooms have been busy strengthening their AI capacity. Here are some of the results so far: - amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism repackaged investigations into multi-media formats which streamlined scriptwriting and made complex stories more accessible to new audiences. - Mail & Guardian created a sub-editing assistant to automate some tasks which meant they cut editing time in half in four months. - Briefly News reduced manual copy editing and increased their article output, resulting in a 22% increase in page views over 6 months. - Pondoland Times enhanced their digital storytelling through an AI-generated avatar which resulted in a significant increase in website impressions for three consecutive months. We’re looking forward starting the next phase of this programme soon where we will be supporting newsrooms in Kenya. Find out more about our wider work to supports journalists and newsrooms with responsible AI adoption ⤵️

The impact of the challenging legal environment on journalists in South Africa is hard to ignore. Here's what they told us ⤵️ 50% of the journalists we surveyed for our report, Weaponising the law: Threats to media freedom in South Africa, have faced legal threats because of their work 🚨 Find out more and read our recommendations to uphold media freedom in South Africa: https://lnkd.in/eYRT6N9i

AI is transforming the workplace faster than most companies are preparing people for it 💻 Less than a third of companies in our global dataset showed evidence of training or reskilling for an AI-integrated workplace. Fewer still could show that training was structured and company-wide. Full findings from the AI Company Data Initiative: https://lnkd.in/eYJGbbK6 #ResponsibleAI #FutureOfWork #Reskilling #WorkforceDevelopment Alt-text description: Slide 1: Is AI training keeping up with AI adoption? Slide 2: 31% of companies offer training or reskilling for an AI-integrated workplace. Source: AI Company Data Initiative Slide 3: But only 12% offer structured, comprehensive training across the organisation. Source: AI Company Data Initiative Slide 4: Responsible AI starts with the people it affects.

Grateful and moved to receive the "Il giornalismo che verrà" award from the Fondazione Giornalismo Mediterraneo (Mediterranean Journalism Foundation) in Catania last night. Receiving this in Sicily, my home, from people who care so deeply about what journalism is for, really means a lot. Defending journalism isn’t just about protecting a profession, it’s about protecting people's right to know, to understand, and to participate in democratic life. As a recent report from UNESCO and DW Akademie showed, independent journalism reduces corruption, strengthens resilience to disinformation, saves lives in crises, and underpins the kind of informed societies that can actually hold power to account. The cost of losing this is far greater than we should be willing to bear. Thank you to the Fondazione Giornalismo Mediterraneo for this honour. 📸 Photo credit: Fondazione Giornalismo Mediterraneo

Working in exile shouldn’t mean operating without rights 📣 https://lnkd.in/eP9wyvmh Our free guides can help media in exile to navigate complex employment laws and processes, safeguard rights and promote sustainable journalism. Country specific guides are available for Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Language options vary depending on guide. 🔗 Explore the resource collection and download for free https://lnkd.in/eP9wyvmh Alt-text: A graphics based carousel to promote the know your rights guides for media in exile. The slides show a few of the common questions that the guides can help answer, e.g. What is the right contract for me? What do I do if things go wrong? (Also listed on website), who the guides are for (journalists, editors and newsroom managers) and list the country specific guides which are available to download from our website (mentioned in post).

Opportunities for #consultants 📣 We're looking for consultants to support two areas of work: 1️⃣ Needs analysis and donor mapping related to media operating in exile in the Latin America and East Africa regions. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/etAXxfAG 2️⃣ Needs assessment: Information integrity in Middle East and North Africa. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eccERia5 Find out more in the links above and apply by Monday 10 August.

Having an AI strategy and having AI governance are not the same thing. Most companies have the first. Few have the second. 43.7% of companies publicly communicate having an AI strategy. Only 13% of companies say it's anchored to a formal AI governance framework. Source: AICDI. Here are five things companies need to consider before the EU AI Act comes into effect in August ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ddaKxnKz #ResponsibleAI #AIGovernance #EUAIAct

Last week, in partnership with Baraza Media Lab, we brought journalists and creators together for workshops in Kisumu and Nairobi. Here’s how it went ⤵️ The workshops covered topics such as misinformation, online safety, and sustainability, and were an opportunity for both groups to collaborate, learn from each other and build strong relationships. We're working to keep the information channels that people are increasingly using trustworthy, reliable, and accurate. If you’re interested in supporting our work in this space, get in touch: https://lnkd.in/dedG7Y5h

South Africa has a vibrant media sector, but our new report finds that journalists are operating in a challenging legal landscape ⤵️ Today, we hosted a webinar to launch our report ‘Weaponising the law: Threats to media freedom in South Africa’, where we explored the four key threats we’ve identified to journalists in South Africa: - the abuse of court processes, - regressive and disabling legislation, - technology-facilitated harms, and - labour-related and sustainability challenges Our report shows that active legal abuses are intensified by regulatory gaps and weak enforcement of existing rights and protections. The challenge is not one single law or institution, but the combined burden of interconnected legal, economic and digital issues. To address each threat and uphold media freedom in South Africa, we’ve offered targeted recommendations in our report which you can download here: https://lnkd.in/eeUFnZ4R ALT Advisory Power Law Africa

It's a matter of days until EU AI Act's transparency obligations come into force. Here are 5 things the Act expects every company across the region to have in place by 2 August: https://lnkd.in/ddaKxnKz