The challenges of covering Russia and Syria from exile

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

In this episode of Fellowship Takeaways we hear from two journalists whose work and lives has been shaped by displacement. In this episode of Fellowship Takeaways we hear from two journalists whose work and lives has been shaped by displacement. They discuss the challenges of building trust, maintaining sources' anonymity, the emotional toll of their work and what newsrooms can do better to support journalists in exile. Speakers: Asmaa Al-Omar is a Syrian journalist who has reported on human rights violations, migration, and conflict in the Middle East for publications such as The New York Times, The Financial Times, and The Guardian. Her investigative work focuses on refugee issues and regional corruption. Maria Kiseleva is a journalist and video producer from Russia, who relocated to Riga, Latvia, after the invasion of Ukraine to escape military censorship laws. Before the invasion, Maria was working for the BBC’s Russian Service in Moscow. She currently works for Current Time TV station, part of RFE/RL. Our host Caithlin Mercer is the Associate Director of the Journalist Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute. Previously she was Managing Editor at Yahoo UK where spearheaded their move into audio. Resources: Transcript of the podcast: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/our-podcast-challenges-covering-russia-and-syria-exile Thomson Reuters Foundation report on Strengthening Exiled Media https://www.trust.org/initiative/supporting-media-in-exile/ Thomson Reuters Foundation report on Supporting Media in Exile https://www.trust.org/initiative/supporting-media-in-exile/