11 January 2018
The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) will be working with ISLP to provide pro bono legal advice, particularly around contracts, to the female journalists in IWMF programs. The service will be open to staff reporters and freelance journalists, who will particularly benefit as they often struggle to understand and negotiate financial and intellectual property rights terms.
“Journalists are rarely experts in contracts law. They often unwittingly accept unreasonable financial terms and take on personal risks. This partnership with ISLP will empower the journalists in our network to effectively bargain for what they deserve and to better understand what they are signing,” explained Elisa Lees Muñoz, the IWMF’s executive director.
Journalists will have access to expert legal services related to their work from our extensive and network of experienced volunteer lawyers. The primary focus of this support will be the journalist’s legal relationships with their employers and publishers.
ISLP Executive Director Katherine Mulhern and Emeritus Board Member Dick Winfield at an IWMF Event late last year.
“ISLP is committed to providing pro bono legal support to IWMF journalists and support staff where we are able, so that they can continue their excellent work unimpeded,” said Katherine Mulhern, Executive Director of ISLP. She added “The ISLP has long respected the IWMF and has enjoyed working with them over the last year. For just, accountable and sustainable development to take place, citizens’ freedoms and liberties must be maintained. A free and engaged international press is key to holding individuals, governments and civil society organisations to account, and the work of women journalists across the globe cannot be overstated.”
To access this service, IWMF-supported journalists will need to approach IWMF who together with ISLP will screen those requests, and for cases they believe they can effectively handle, will identify volunteer legal counsel who can assist. We will also will co-host a series of webinars in which journalists will get real-time expert advice about their contracts, as well as briefings on legal trends.
We’re really excited to be involved in extending our provision of legal support to such a great cause!
ISLP Executive Director Katherine Mulhern and Emeritus Board Member Dick Winfield at an IWMF Event late last year.