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Global Media Competition

Winners and finalists of the 2020 Global Media Competition on Labour Migration

Winning entries provide outstanding and balanced reporting on labour migration and fair recruitment.

The ILO received more than 290 entries from 67 countries. An independent panel of five judges reviewed the entries based on the criteria of creativity, accuracy and balance, protection of migrants and positive portrayal of labour migration.

The competition aims to promote quality reporting on labour migration issues, as balanced and ethical reporting can play an important role in addressing stereotypes and misconceptions, and in highlighting the positive contribution migrant workers make in their origin and destination countries. This year, specific coverage of the issues related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrant workers and their families, including with respect to the non-payment of wages, have been encouraged and viewed favourably.

After a rigorous review process, prizes have been awarded to the following winners in two different categories:

Winners

  • Professional prize in the “Published media piece” category: The Scramble to Pluck 24 Billion Cherries in Eight Weeks, by Brooke Jarvis, published in The New York Times Magazine (12 August 2020)
  • Professional prize in the “Published media piece” category: The Essex Lorry Tragedy and the Narrative of Migration, by Lam Le, published in New Naratif (26 November 2019)
  • Professional prize in the “synopsis” category: American dreams become a nightmare: paying to work in the United States, by Dana Ullman, a proposed investigation of victims to a complex fraud scheme that uses social media to lure migrants into fake jobs in the US.
  • Student prize in the “synopsis” category: Indispensables invisibles, by Clémentine Eveno, a proposed investigation on migrant exploitation through outsourced cleaning services in France.

Finalists

In addition to the prize-winners above, the panel of judges and the ILO would also like to recognize the following pieces which were considered finalists in the competition: