| TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
Sourcing and Verification: Journalists depend on general police sources, counter trafficking units of the police services and attorney general offices to verify information when reporting on human trafficking cases. These are seen to be credible. With regards to the trafficking in persons reports, the journalists interact with the US Embassies in their countries. There was little interaction with the International Office for Migration (IOM) or United Nations High Commission for Refugees who have TIP programs and initiatives. Challenges or limitations in obtaining accurate information on human trafficking incidents include access to updated data and statistics; a lack of open sources of information; and the general absence of dedicated points of contact or authoritative sources at relevant authorities. A senior editor at a well-known media house explained that like most media houses in Trinidad and Tobago is under resourced in terms of staff as well as financially. If there is a lack of staff to cover daily beats, in-depth reporting suffers. There are also no security measures in place for journalists covering trafficking in persons from police. However, few media houses appear willing to systematically protect their journalists as and when needed. There have been instances where reporters cancelled stories due to risk or uncertainty. There was one incident of a photojournalist being violently chased from a scene by police officers where they were photographing a TIP operation. The photojournalist escaped and the media house had arrangements in place for security and a safe return. They have not been discovered and their name cannot be revealed. Verifying information in human trafficking cases is crucial for journalists to ensure accuracy and ethical reporting. Human trafficking is a complex and hidden crime, making it challenging to gather reliable information. Less than fifty percent of journalists said that they are cross-checking sources by relying on multiple sources to corroborate information. Journalists do, however, review official documents and reports from law enforcement agencies, government authorities, and stakeholders such as the diplomatic corps. There were very few interviews with different stakeholders, government representatives and non-governmental actors. There was almost no data analysis and desk research and very rarely did reporting include the use of statistics. While it is true that there is a lack of data generally, desk research or consultations with experts and civil society actors could be used as references. This would include experts from academia, and non- governmental agencies (NGOs) who deal with human trafficking, and who can provide additional context to help contextualize and verify the accuracy of the stories. Based on the examination of all stories, there was only one story which went viral. From the material reviewed it seemed that journalists abide by ethical standards and in most cases they gave consideration to the sensitivities of the victims. They did not take photos of them which were identifiable. The images were unrecognizable or silhouette shots; and they refrained from being too descriptive.
76 A Media Analysis of the Coverage of Youth Involvement in Crime and Violence and Trafficking in Persons (June 2021 to June 2023) in the Eastern Caribbean
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