15 years of Media Defence: Student law clinic defending freedom of expression
By Dr Paolo Cavaliere and Smita Shah Jailed for taking photographs Ngyuen Dang Minh Man (Minh Man) was a social justice activist and independent citizen blogger. In 2011, at just 27 years old, she was arrested and detained. Her crime was taking photographs of graffiti and fliers, and documenting the June 2011 anti-China protests in […]
[Now closed] We’re hiring: Fundraising Officer
Location: Hybrid / London We combine home working and office-based working to suit individual and organisational needs Salary: £34,320 – £40,350 Contract: Permanent, full-time Hours: 37.5 hours, occasional evening work Responsible to: Development Director Key relationships: Chief Executive Officer; Finance and Operations team; Legal team; Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer; Development team, Capacity building […]
Call for Applications: Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Litigation Surgery
3-5 October 2023, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia In partnership with the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Media Defence is calling for applications from lawyers based in Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Mongolia, Thailand and Vietnam to participate in a forthcoming litigation surgery on the right to freedom of expression. The litigation […]
Learning Report 2022
Read our Learning Report 2022 Media Defence values the importance of learning and improvement. We undertake a variety of internal and external evaluations each year in order to understand the effectiveness and relevance of our programmes, ensuring that we learn from the experiences of the lawyers and journalists involved. We also do this to explore […]
Lawyer Impact Survey 2022
About the survey Read our Lawyer Impact Survey 2022 In 2022, we carried out our third Lawyer Impact Survey to assess the impact of our support to lawyers. We support lawyers with both our emergency defence and our strategic litigation programmes. Through these programmes, we offer pro bono legal support, as well as financial support […]
[NOW CLOSED] Join the team! We are hiring for a Communications Coordinator
We are hiring for a Communications Coordinator (permanent, full-time) to join the Development Team. Read the full job description here. About Media Defence Media Defence is a charity that helps media to defend their rights. We support independent media, journalists and citizen journalists who are under legal threat by making sure that lawyers are available […]
A Year in Review: Our 2022 Annual Report
The report Click here to read our 2022 Annual Report Media Defence has launched its 2022 annual report, marking the end of a pivotal year for freedom of expression. The year 2022 has presented us with a worrying decline in press freedom. In response to their work, journalists around the world have faced legal harassment, […]
Media Defence Mourns Former Trustee, Gwyneth Henderson
It is with profound sadness that Media Defence has learned of the death of one the key figures in its organisational history: journalist, inaugural chair, and co-creator of Media Defence, Gwyneth Henderson. Career with the BBC Gwyneth joined the BBC in the early 1960s and, working for both Radio 4 and subsequently the BBC World […]
[NOW CLOSED] We’re recruiting: Legal Officer
About Media Defence Media Defence is a charity that helps media to defend their rights. We support independent media, journalists and citizen journalists who are under legal threat by making sure that lawyers are available to defend them. We engage in strategic litigation to improve the regulatory environment for media freedom, make grants to organisations […]
Our Journalist Impact Survey 2022
“If I didn’t have Media Defence’s support, I would have been condemned .” – Journalist supported by Media Defence in 2022. In 2022, we carried out our sixth annual Journalist Impact Survey to look at the longer-term impact of our support to journalists. We designed our Journalist Impact Survey to understand the quality of our […]
15 Years of Media Defence: Unwavering focus on legal support for journalists
15 years ago, Media Defence was established. To celebrate our 15th anniversary, we highlight some developments in freedom of expression over the past 15 years of our work. This piece is written by Bob Jobbins, who was the Chair of our Board of Trustees for 8 years, between 2013 – 2021. Previously, Bob Jobbins worked […]
Media Defence Announces Carlos Gaio as New Chief Executive Officer
Media Defence is pleased to announce Carlos Gaio as its new Chief Executive Officer. Carlos has worked in the Legal Team at Media Defence since 2020 and is stepping in as CEO on 1st March 2023, replacing Alinda Vermeer. Prior to joining the organisation, Carlos worked for ten years as a senior lawyer at the […]