Legal Officer, Media Freedom - London, United Kingdom - Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters

Verified Company

London, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Legal Officer, Media Freedom - Thomson Reuters Foundation

About Thomson Reuters Foundation

Thomson Reuters Foundation is the corporate foundation of Thomson Reuters, the global news and information services company. As an independent charity, registered in the UK and the USA, we work to advance media freedom, foster more inclusive economies, and promote human rights. Through news, media development, free legal assistance and convening initiatives, we combine our unique media and legal services to drive systemic change.

We use the combined power of journalism and the law to build global awareness of critical issues faced by humanity, inspire collective leadership and help shape a prosperous world where no one is left behind.

TrustLaw

TrustLaw is the global pro bono service of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. As the world's leading pro bono legal service, TrustLaw helps high-impact NGOs and social enterprises, including media organizations, to grow, streamline their operations and navigate complex laws and regulations by connecting them with free legal assistance from the best law firms and corporate legal teams around the world. We also deliver groundbreaking legal research on key social and policy issues that our members use to support their advocacy and law reform efforts, and we deliver innovative capacity-building workshops on legal issues across the globe.

The Foundation is establishing a dedicated offering that facilitates access to legal support, tools and training for journalists and independent newsrooms in need, to help protect and defend them from the growing legal threats used to silence or punish their reporting on matters of public interest.

As part of this, we are now seeking to expand the TrustLaw service and implement a new media freedom project focused on supporting independent journalists globally, with a focus on media in exile.

The Foundation is recruiting a dynamic
Legal Officer to expand the TrustLaw service to support journalists and media facing legal threats, with a focus on supporting journalists in exile in Central and Eastern Europe. You will report to the Legal Manager, Media Freedom and work closely with the TrustLaw, Programmes and Media Freedom teams.

The position will be based in London.

About the Role
In this opportunity as
Legal Officer, Media Freedom, you will:

Input into the implementation of the operating model for the new legal offering, including intake process, eligibility requirements, project flow and impact monitoring mechanisms
Support the intake process for legal members, media organizations and journalists, including vetting entities to ensure alignment with eligibility criteria.
Support the implementation of strategies to recruit, engage, partner and manage relationships with media outlets/NGOs and legal teams, with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe.
With the Senior Legal Officer, scope legal pro bono or low bono requests from media organizations and journalists, so that the requests clearly explain the legal needs for lawyers to advise on.
Manage legal requests from media freedom organisations, journalists or outlets from inception to completion, including connecting our clients with lawyers in the TrustLaw network or other legal service providers, as appropriate, and follow up with the parties involved.
Support the development of legal content for trainings, workshops and health checks that address the critical legal needs facing media outlets and journalists in exile. These are likely to include registration, employment, broadcasting and intellectual property law issues in new jurisdictions, to which they have relocated.
Support the development of tools, resources, and other content on key legal issues of relevance to journalists and independent media outlets in exile, such as setting up in new jurisdictions.
Support the development and implementation of a communications, engagement and outreach plan to media freedom and legal partners in the region, as needed, in collaboration with the Foundation's Communications, Social and Media Freedom teams.
Assist and support on the administrative, reporting, planning, monitoring, portal and website updates, and logístical responsibilities linked to the role in a timely manner.
Support the TrustLaw team on media freedom thought leadership projects and, as appropriate, represent TrustLaw by speaking publicly on our work at panels, conferences, or other speaking engagements.
Travel, when safe to do so.
Assist with other duties as required.

About You
You're a fit for the role of
Legal Officer, Media Freedom if your background includes:

A qualified lawyer (1+ years PQE) with relevant experience working either in a law firm, media house or non-profit organisation, preferably in media law and/or human rights
Understanding of international standards on press freedom and/or the media law/policy landscape in Europe, ideally with a focus on