Rappler report among finalists in global media competition

A RAPPLER investigative report is a finalist in the 2021 International Labour Organization (ILO) Global Media Competition on Labour Migration.

Penned by Ana P. Santos, “Ocean Lockdown” called attention to the extreme working conditions Filipino migrant fishermen endured while aboard the Fu Yuan Yu 7874, a Chinese-owned fishing vessel. The story is the first of a two-part series produced with research and photo contributions from the Rappler team.

The stories were made in partnership with the Pulitzer Center, a nonprofit organization aiming to spotlight underreported global issues through reporting grants issued to journalists.

The ILO shared a list of the competition’s four main winners as well as finalists in a release dated December 18,  International Migrants Day. The 2021 contest had encouraged reporting on issues related to the impact of COVID-19 on migrant workers.

The ILO competition seeks to promote excellence in the coverage of labour migration issues, “since balanced and ethical reporting can play an important role in addressing stereotypes and misconceptions.” Furthermore, the ILO believes that good practices can highlight the positive contributions of migrant workers in their countries of origin and destination.

Six judges reviewed the year’s entries based on the following criteria: creativity, accuracy and balance, protection of migrants, and positive portrayal of labour migration.

Winners in the professional category are listed below:

• Petits patrons et jeunes migrants : unis par les liens de l’apprentissage  (Small business owners and young migrants: united by the bonds of apprenticeship), by Gurvan Kristanadjaja, published in Libération (1 February 2021).
• Mineros urbanos a cielo abierto, la cara invisible del reciclaje  (Urban miners in the open air, the invisible face of recycling), by Judit Alonso Gonzalbez, Javier Sulé and Marta Saiz, published in El País, (1 March 2021).
• Domestic Workers in Gulf Countries Vent Woes on TikTok , by Louise Donovan, published in partnership with The New York Times and The Fuller Project (25 April 2021).

Rappler’s fellow finalists include:

• ‘She just vanished’: Ethiopian domestic workers abused in Lebanon , by Zecharias Zelalem, published in Aljazeera (16 June 2021)
• In Italy, the institutionalised exploitation of migrant care workers has been exacerbated by the pandemic , by Marco Marchese, published in Equal Times (3 September 2021)
• Ocean lockdown: Filipino seafarers face perils, death at sea , by Ana Santos, published in Rappler (23 October 2020)
• Empleadas de hogar, una década perdida para equiparar sus derechos , (Domestic workers, ten years lost seeking labour rights equivalence), by Nuria Cano y María Vicente (EFE), published in El Periódico de España (12 October 2021)
• Many Indian workers died of COVID-19 in the Gulf. Expanding insurance coverage could help their families , by Rejimon Kuttappan, published in The Hindu (9 April 2021)
• Stepping up in a crisis: How migrant workers in Singapore took on leadership roles during COVID-19 , by Natasha Ganesan, published in The Straits Times (26 October 2020)
• In California, a women-led coalition is fighting for the passage a new anti-sweatshop law , by Noémie Taylor-Rosner, published in Equal Times (8 September 2021)
• In Guatemala, Chortí women are trying to overcome adversity through enterprise , by Morena Pérez Joachin, published in Equal Times (26 March 2021)