LONDON , 7 June 2012 (Trust.org) –Thomson Reuters Foundation has appointed a special correspondent to drive corruption coverage on its TrustLaw legal news site and build a global network of local journalists trained to delve into governance issues in their countries.
The appointment of award-winning Reuters journalist Stella Dawson is made possible with funding from GE Foundation, the philanthropic arm of General Electric Co. That funding comes with no strings attached and the Foundation's corruption coverage – as with all its journalism – is subject to the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles of independence, integrity and freedom from bias.
"Having Stella Dawson to drive and deepen our coverage on governance and corruption is a fantastic opportunity for the Foundation. I have worked with her in shaping the editorial side of a partnership between Reuters and the Internal Herald Tribune on business coverage and have come to appreciate fully the very broad range of talent she has. This appointment underlines our commitment to transparency and business ethics," said Thomson Reuters Foundation's CEO Monique Villa.
Dawson has reported for more than 20 years on international economics, banking and monetary policy for Reuters from Chicago, Washington, New York, London and Frankfurt. As Global Editor for Economics and Markets between 2007 and 2010, she played a leading role in shaping Reuters news coverage of the credit crisis and the Great Recession.
She was named Reuters Treasury Journalist of the Year in 2005 and has won UPI awards for feature reporting and breaking news. Her coverage of corruption in Virginia led to the criminal conviction of a county chief executive. She also is an experienced radio and television journalist, and appears on the BBC, NPR, CSPAN and CNBC. Stella is seconded from Reuters to the Foundation for two years.
The creation of the special correspondent role comes two years after the launch of TrustLaw, a global hub of news and information on good governance, women's rights issues and pro bono legal assistance. Dawson will be responsible for broadening the scope of Foundation's coverage of official and corporate corruption as well as transparency in aid and development.
A key part of the role will be the creation of a worldwide network of freelance journalists focused on bringing good governance themes to life and digging into corruption stories on their patches.
The network will be modelled on a similar initiative by the Thomson Reuters Foundation's AlertNet humanitarian site, which now has about 100 local journalists in developing countries covering the human impacts of climate change on the ground.
Dawson joins in time to help organise a conference on corporate corruption and new legislation in Brazil that the Foundation plans in November in Sao Paulo.
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