What Omidyar's been up to...

Rayzer rayzer@riseup.net
Mon May 16 08:35:28 PDT 2016


 
Fomenting media about indigenous land rights...


Thomson Reuters Foundation launches Place to put land and property
rights on global news agenda

London (May 16, 2016) – The Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charity arm
of the world’s largest news and information provider, today launched
Place (Property, Land, Access, Connections, Empowerment), an innovative
platform to boost coverage of land and property rights, one of the most
under-reported issues worldwide. The new platform has been developed
with support from Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm
founded by Pierre and Pam Omidyar.

Insecurity of land tenure and property rights is a major cause of global
poverty and inequality and is strongly linked to the realisation of many
development goals, including food security, economic empowerment of
women, and climate change mitigation. Place aims to generate and curate
trusted news and information on these issues, highlighting some of the
complex dynamics related to property rights with the aim of making the
subject accessible to a broader audience.

Place creates the world’s first global news team dedicated to coverage
of land and property rights, and the launch of a new digital platform,
featuring original articles, information, analysis and opinion pieces.
The Thomson Reuters Foundation team will do reporting and will select
and aggregate content, ensuring the site both informs and triggers debate.

“The lack of ownership or tenure is one of the world’s most silent
crises and one with dramatic ramifications. The denial of such basic
rights leads to exploitation and financial instability; it can destroy
livelihoods, create inequality and even foment conflict. It particularly
affects women who are not allowed to own or even inherit land in many
countries,” says Monique Villa, Chief Executive Officer of the Thomson
Reuters Foundation. “Through the generous support of Omidyar Network,
our news will play a significant role in starting a global conversation
on the subject.”

“The lack of property rights is not just a concern for developing
countries,” says Peter Rabley, Director of the Property Rights
initiative of Omidyar Network. “It poses a threat to global security by
putting food supplies at risk, fuelling violence in ever-growing slums
in major cities, reducing opportunity and economic empowerment, and
increasing pressure on the environment. The issues linked to property
rights are a concern for everyone, and this innovative project with the
Thomson Reuters Foundation aims to address these issues by bringing them
into the public domain and sparking a global discussion.”

Thomson Reuters Foundation journalists and videographers in Africa,
India, Brazil and Britain will work with over 100 freelancers to produce
daily news addressing issues such as the lack of land rights and its
consequences, corruption, land appropriation, food security and human
rights abuses. The team will also produce interviews with frontline
thought leaders and compelling micro-documentaries to engage viewers
through visually striking investigative stories.

The journalists are part of the larger editorial team at the Thomson
Reuters Foundation, will report to Belinda Goldsmith, editor-in-chief,
and will benefit from editorial guidance, mentorship, facilities and a
global distribution network reaching an estimated audience of one
billion readers a day.

Content generated by the team will be featured on news.trust.org, the
Thomson Reuters Foundation’s website, and on place.trust.org, the new
platform dedicated to land and property rights.


For more information on the project visit place.trust.org


-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 836 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/attachments/20160516/f87251ce/attachment-0001.sig>


More information about the cypherpunks mailing list